The Reunion
by Chayah
Summary: It's the 10 year high school reunion. Veronica has been traveling the world doing what she does best. What will Neptune have in store for her? Follow updates: tumblr tag - "Reunion Fanfiction"
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Sidebar: I am not and never will be a mystery writer so this won't have the complexity of Veronica Mars but I hope to keep the wit and drama.

It's been 9 years since the show left off and the Neptune High 10 year reunion is right around the corner. Veronica has been traveling the world doing P.I. work and just came back from Australia and is in a cab heading to Neptune. In the cab ride she looks at her phone at pictures of herself with a guy she appeared to spend time with in Australia. A text pops up on her phone "I miss you already -Jordan," she smiles sweetly and closes her phone, not replying.

The cab pulls up to a small house and the driver takes out her luggage and she pays him as he leaves. She stands there just looking at the house smiling when a young boy comes running out of the house screaming "RONNNNNNNNI" and jumps into her arms.

"Patrick!" she hugs him tightly, "I missed you SO much!"

"You said you'd come back for Thanksgiving this year..." he pouts.

"I know, I'm sorry, I just had a really big case bubba," she kisses him on the forehead and puts him down.

"Hey...you look familiar?" said Keith coming out of the house with the biggest grin on the planet.

"I guess all the plastic surgery didn't have it's intended effect," she smirks and jumps into his arms.

"You were gone far too long this time, you know I worry about you."

"You do realize I'm 28 now and I don't have a curfew anymore," she stands back crossing her arms over her chest.

"Hey, are you the one my men talk about incessantly?" Alicia said coming over to hug Veronica, "I swear Patrick thinks you are a super hero."

"I'm not? Then what is with the cape in my suitcase?" Veronica takes Patrick's hand and they all head into the house.

"Are you going to be around for my birthday next week?" Patrick asks as Veronica plays blocks with him on the floor.

"Are you turning 45 this year or 46?" Veronica asks quizickly.

"Roni...I'm gonna be six years old!" he yells out with exitement.

"Oh wow! I'll have to see if I can fit that into my busy schedule," she smiles at him.

"Wallace should be here soon," Alicia mentions as she and Keith are cutting up vegetables for dinner.

"I can't wait to see my baby brother, I owe him so many noogies," Veronica quips.

"What's a noogie?" Patrick asks.

"Something only adults do," Keith remarks.

"I don't need to know what goes on in your bedroom," Veronica says.

Keith gets a message on his phone and checks it.

"So, how's the biggest baddest sheriff in Neptune?" she asks as she gets up off the floor and sits at the island in the kitchen.

"Way too busy keeping everyone in line."

"I'm so glad you finally won the last election, it was about time," she mentions.

"Oh yeah, thanks for rigging that for me," he tosses a mushroom into his mouth with a grin.

"Luckily I didn't have to, since I was in Beijing at the time."

Someone knocks at the door. Veronica runs excitedly to the door and open sit to a clean cut Wallace standing there in a suit and tie.

"Baby brother!" she screams and jumps into his arms.

"Hey hey, I'm only younger by a few months you know," he says hugging her back.

"If it means I can boss you around and mock you then big sister I am," she says pinching his cheek.

"You mean the way you've always treated me?" he laughs then hugs his mother and Keith. He goes over and hugs Patrick.

"You know I'm a powerful sports agent now, you can't treat me like this anymore," he said going to the refrigerator to get a beer.

"What? Is Shaqil O'Neil gonna rough me up for you?"

"I'm afraid you'd hurt him."

"So how was Australia?" Alicia asks.

"Oh you know, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor," she sighs.

"Did you solve the case about that mission ten million dollars?" Wallace asks.

"You have to ask Wally? Would she be here if she hadn't solved it?" Keith remarks.

"Stop calling me Wally," Wallace glares at him, "what happened with that guy you met in Australia?"

"It was just a little thing, he was nice."

"When was the last time you had an actual relationship?" he prodded.

"You should talk."

"Hey, I'm just waiting for Mrs. Right."

"Then maybe you should stop dating 22 year old waitresses..." Alicia adds.

"BURN!" Keith and Veronica say at the same time and then high five.

"You realized you married a complete dork right?" Wallace says to his mom.

"Oh, I know very well," she smiles and hugs Keith.

"Ok, enough with the chit chat, if someone doesn't feed me soon I'm going to start foaming at the mouth."

Veronica leaned down to kiss Patrick on the forehead as she tucked him in. His curls and mocha skin were so different than her pale skin and blond hair but he was so much like her. As she watched him sleep after she'd told him a story about pirates on the open sea she hoped he would grow up more trusting than her and less guarded.

She went to put on her pajamas and headed out to the back porch where her father was sitting by himself.

"Beer?" she asked as she handed him one and sat down next to him.

"Thanks. I can't believe you still have those My Little Pony pajamas," he noted taking a sip of the beer.

"You know how much I love ponies," she said bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

"I worry about you," he said still looking out at the night sky.

"No need to worry about me pops, I'm a badass international PI or haven't you heard?"

"Oh I've heard, I just worry that you'll never settle down and relax," he looked over at her and she shrugged.

"Love and relationships, I don't do that so well but taking down the bad guys, that...I do well."

"I'm afraid you've taken after me too much, keeping people at a distance and spending too much time on your career. Take it from me, the real moments are the ones you spend with those you love," he smiles to himself.

Veronica had nothing to say to this, she knew it was true but she couldn't deal. She'd had a few flings over the years but had never really invested in anyone. It was convenient to get caught up in a whirlwind love affair and then down the road head off into the sunset. Her life worked this way but something was missing from her life.

"I'm going to bed, I have to work tomorrow. I love you," he said kissing her forehead.

"Love you too dad."

Veronica woke up to the smell of pancakes and coffee, she walked out into the kitchen yawning to see Alicia, Wallace and Patrick sitting at the table having breakfast. She took the scene in for a moment, was this an actual family? When did this happen?

"I hope you didn't eat all the pancakes Patrick," said Veronica as she took a seat and poured a cup of coffee.

"No but Wallace did!" Patrick said loudly pointing at Wallace.

"Hey now, I saved you a few," Wallace said handing her the plate of pancakes.

"You ready for memory lane tonight?" she said taking a huge bite of pancakes and following that with a gulp of coffee.

"I guess, it will be nice to see the basketball team. You?"

"I'd like to see Mac and would love to see a balding/pudgy Dick," she said with a grin.

"Think Logan will be there?" he asks tentatively.

Veronica pauses in mid bite "no idea, haven't talked to him in a while."

"I think I heard he was living in Japan at one point, his company went international."

"I really need a shower, I stank something harsh," she says putting her plate in the sink and heading off to the bathroom.

Standing at the sink after her shower she was rifling through her makeup bag when she pulls out a diamond ring. She looks at it for a moment as her eyes tear up a little then puts it back in the bag.

"Am I crazy for going tonight?" she said looking in the mirror.

Veronica and Wallace are standing outside of the high school pausing for a moment before they go in. Wallace is wearing a dark grey suit with a pink tie. Veronica is wearing a dark blue/green fitted calf-length dress with her hair wavy swept up loosely.

"Really? A pink tie?" she mocks fixing his tie for him.

"Only real men can wear pink," he says straightening out his suit.

"Did P Diddy tell you that?"

She hooks her arm with his and they head into the gymnasium. As they walk into the room she's immediately filled with emotion. She couldn't help but remember the accidental slow dance she had with Logan here. That moment her heart was pounding so hard and she couldn't remember how to breath. How was it no matter what she and Logan went through somehow he always made her heart stop? Just thinking about him these days, which she did more than she'd ever admit out loud, made her palpitate.

Wallace notices his basketball team friends in the middle of the room and turns to Veronica.

"Do you mind?" he asks her not wanting to leave her alone.

"I'm a big girl, I stopped using training wheels last week you know," she says pushing him towards his friends.

Veronica walks over to the drink table to get some punch. It figured that a reunion at Neptune High wouldn't have any alcohol. She took a cup of punch when she heard behind her.

"You should know that's spiked, I don't want you completely losing control about me this time."

She turns around to see Dick Casablancas standing there looking a little older with shorter slightly thinning hair. He is wearing a sports jacket with a t-shirt underneith.

"You seem to always forget I was drugged at that party Dick," she says gritting her teeth but smiling.

"I remember, you were never so much fun as you were that night."

"I live to please you Dick," she said punching him in the shoulder.

"Oh, you have a funny way of showing it," he turns around standing next to her looking out to the dance floor.

"Please tell me you are doing something now other than living at the Neptune Grand and playing video games," she asks waiting for Dick to sip his drink before she takes a sip of hers.

"I'm an adult now Veronica, believe it or not. I own my own car dealership, I have 2 kids and I'm in the process of a divorce."

"Wow, sorry about that," she says honestly.

"I'm not, marriage isn't my thang you know?"

"Oh I believe it," she says walking across the room when she sees him. Logan just walked into the room and is looking around. His hair is shorter than it used to be. He's wearing a button down white shirt with no tie and the first couple buttons undone. He has a sports jacket on and looks so grown up but so much the same. Just then, he catches her eye and she can barely handle it. She turns around and bolts out of the gymnasium.

After she re-applies her lipstick and adjusts her dress she heads back out of the bathroom feeling like she's gotten her shit together to go back. She's been all over the world; she can handle this guy from her past. As the door closes behind her she hears behind her "if it isn't the International woman of mystery."

Logan is leaning against the wall waiting for her.


	2. Chapter 2

As Veronica stepped into the dimly lit hallway she noticed Logan leaning against the lockers like he always was. She felt like she was back in high school again with the nerves and the uncertainty of everything.

"If you're waiting for some 18 year old girls to walk by there aren't any here," she said with a smirk.

"Nope, just waiting for you as usual," he smiled.

That burned a bit, she knew she'd hurt him and that he'd waited for her a lot. She missed him so much but of course never let him know that.

"So how are things? You aren't causing mayhem wherever you go still?" she said leaning against the wall beside him.

"Only the occasional geek and at my company," he said glancing at her up and down.

"I heard your company has taken off, what do you do? Please tell me it's not the Rate My Ass idea you had before."

"No, I just do that for fun in my spare time. It's a publishing company. You know, you look great," he smirks raising his eyebrows.

"Thanks, traveling seems to agree with me."

"Yeah, I can imagine," he says looking away briefly and she can see a flicker of sadness in his eyes.

"Veronica!" she heard from down the hall. She pulled herself away from Logan to see who it was and saw Mac coming towards her.

They hug tightly laughing and exchanging pleasantries. When Veronica steps back she notices that Logan is gone. She feels a sense of sadness and relief at the same time, which is often how she feels when Logan disappears.

Veronica and Mac step outside for some privacy to catch up. She already knew via email over the years that Mac had married Max and they have 2 little boys Cody and Dean. Max works for a big Internet company and Max does what she does best,.solving tech mysteries which Veronica still often contacts her for help with. Although now she's on Veronica's payroll. Still, they haven't seen each other in years.

"It's been too long you know? I mean, it's great that we still keep in touch even though it's usually work related but I haven't seen you since Max and I got married," she says giving Veronica that look she always gives her.

"I know, I suck, but the world needs me you know? Is Max here tonight?" Veronica asks.

"No, he had to take care of the boys but I really wanted to have a night to myself anyway. Being a mom can really make you strung out sometimes you know?" she says and Veronica can feel how exhausted her friend is and feels bad she's been so absent.

"I'm sorry I've been MIA for so long, I don't even realize how quickly time flies until years have gone by," she says solemnly, "I love what I do but I miss the connections I used to have."

"Logan too? I saw you talking to him," she said curiously but tentatively.

"I do miss him but we don't work, we drive each other crazy and there is so much broken with us."

"We see him a lot, he's been through so much in the last few years you know? He could really use a friend, I mean more than Max and myself."

"I'm not sure I can be his friend, not anymore, that's why I had to get away and stay away from him. I know that just reaching out to him I get pulled back in and so much pain always follows," Veronica can feel herself getting emotional and pushes the feelings down again, as she always does.

"You and the wall you have built up. It must be lonely behind it," Mac says sincerely.

Veronica sort of chokes a laugh "and how are you and Logan now best buddies?"

"I wouldn't say best buddies but I was close with his wife," she puts her arm around Veronica's shoulder, "he's grown up a lot Veronica."

Mac went to go call her house to check in on Max and the kids so Veronica wandered back into the gymnasium. The song Run by Snow Patrol is playing and almost immediately she catches Logan looking at her from across the room. It's like there is a magnet pulling them together sometimes. Without thinking about it she starts walking towards him and he does the same. She keeps looking away feeling uncomfortable but not quite able to look away.

They are standing near the dance floor and he takes her hand, without saying a word. He leads her onto the dance floor and then he brings her into his arms for a slow dance. They start swaying and she suddenly feels 18 again. She feels safe and terrified in his arms as she usually did.

As the music played she rested her head on his chest let herself sink into him for a moment. She knew this couldn't last but she just wanted to feel this again, she'd been so lost for so long she'd gotten used to it. It felt so good she was on the verge of crying and right then she knew she was in trouble. She lifted her head to look at him.

"I heard you got married," she asked softly, afraid to find out the details.

"Yeah," she could feel the pain in his voice, "Lisa. I met her 5 years ago. She got pregnant and we got married. A year ago she left me and I filed for divorce. I don't even know where she is anymore."

"Why did she leave?" she asked partly because she cared about him and partly because missing people was her specialty.

"Don't get all Mars P.I. on me here, Mac did a lot of research but she left me, that's what matters. She ran off with an old love of her."

"Logan, I'm so sorry," she said, not knowing how to handle this.

"Apparently the women in my life can't get away from me fast enough," he said and Veronica felt all herself crumble inside because she knew she was one of those women.

"You knew I couldn't give you what you wanted, what you needed," she said as her heart pounded, "it wasn't easy for me."

There was silence between them after that and more emotions that could fit in this huge room. They had so much unsaid between them, much that may never be expressed. All she knew is she didn't want to leave this moment. Being so far away from him helped her not need him so much, the distance was imperative. Now she didn't know how to let him go.

"When are you leaving again?" he asked.

"I'm not sure, I guess whenever I get my next case. It could be tonight or it could be a month from now..." she trailed off.

"Would you come over for dinner tomorrow night?" he asked as he stopped dancing and let her out of his arms.

"Are you cooking?" she asked making a horrified face.

"Hey, I make a hamburger that would make Woolfgang Punk weap," he says with a grin.

"No need for making Wolfgang cry, I'll be there for dinner," she said with a smile.

"I have to head home, it's way past my curfew," he said about to walk away.

"I think this is the first curfew you've ever had," she yells across the dance floor laughing.

"Turns out I work well with limits," he said and then disappeared into the crowd. Veronica stands there alone on the dance floor as the Black Eyed Peas blares through the speakers.

Her mind wanders back to so many years ago after she and Logan got an apartment together after college. She was still doing work for her father and Logan was figuring out what he wanted to do with his life. He wanted to use some of his money to start a business but he was trying to find the right direction to go.

Everything was so great between them, they were living in a town not too far away from Neptune and spent so much of their time watching movies and naked in each other's arms. If there was one thing that never faded for them and that was the passion.

She'd been so busy for a couple weeks on a big case and one night she came home exhausted after tying up the loose ends with a lot of paper work she found her apartment full of candles and dim lighting. She walked through the apartment with her favorite music playing, the song at the moment was Sade's By Your Side.

Logan walked into the room in an untucked dress shirt and jeans. The expression on his face was both joy and total fear. Veronica walked toward him slowly taking in everything around her. On the table she saw takeout from their favorite Thai restaurant and her favorite beer.

"Dinner my love?" he said presenting the dinner before her.

"What is this all about? Did you get arrested again?" she asked coyly.

"Oh dear, you know I haven't been arrested in years, I think the cops are afraid now that I have you in my back pocket."

"How little do you think I am that I fit in your back pocket?" she mused.

"You're teeny tiny," he said making a face and then pulled her into his arms.

"But I carry a big punch," she says holding up her fist making a tough face.

"Don't I know it," he said pulling her into a kiss and before they knew it they were still kissing and she started to unbutton his shirt.

"Sorry, no lovin until after dinner," he said bringing her to the table.

"You know momma needs to some," she whines as she sits down at the small table.

After they finish dinner she leans back in her chair rubbing her belly admitting that she may have eaten too much pad Thai. He laughs and leans across the table touching the side of her face with his hand "I can't believe how much I love you Ronnie."

"Even with this extended food belly?" she asks making her stomach look bigger than it really is.

"Always. You're the best thing that ever happened to me. You're my family and my best friend. Going to bed with you every night and waking up with you in my arms in the morning is all I've ever really wanted," he said looking slightly pale and shaken.

"What's going on?" she asks a little freaked out.

"Will you marry me?" he asks looking her straight in the eyes. That was one of the things she loved about him most, he always looked her in the eyes, no matter how difficult it was.

"W-What?" she asked in shock, not knowing what to think or what to do.

Logan pulls a ring box out of his pocket, opens it and puts it on the table in front of her. It's a sterling silver ring with a princess cut diamond. With all the candles the ring was sparkling and it mesmerized her.

"I know you aren't really the type who settles down but since living together has been so great I figured why not? I want to officially make you my family. I don't want to lose you again, I've lost you too many times," he said with his eyes tearing up a little.

She didn't know what to do, she was so moved by the gesture but the idea of locking herself down made her feel suffocated. Seeing the look on Logan's face she knew there was no going back from this, she had to make a decision and couldn't just take it off the table. The question was so big and she just couldn't get herself around it.

"I-I just..." she said as she kept losing her breath and her voice.

"Why Veronica Mars, are you actually...without words?" he smirked.

She got up off of her chair feeling a bit dizzy from the beer and the moment surrounding her. She walked up to him sitting in his chair and straddled him face to face. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him with everything she was feeling. She started unbuttoning his shirt and then pulled it off over his head. She then pulled her shirt off and kissed his face, neck and chest.

Soon there was no clothing between them in the chair and they were enveloped in each other. Tears started to fill up her eyes as the passion took over her emotions and she couldn't think of anything else but how much she simply adored this guy. This beautiful man who loved her so deeply and made her so happy and she was sleeping with him to avoid the future that was now laid out before her.

In the morning, long before Logan would wake up she packed a bag and left. She wrote him a note saying she was sorry, that she loved him but that she wasn't ready to take such a big step with him. As she walked out the door she stopped for a moment and contemplated what she was walking away from but the panic was too strong to stay. He deserved better than what she could offer.

"Hey, you ok?" Mac was standing in front of her getting her attention.

"Sorry, I drifted off a bit I think," she said trying to smile.

"You should stay at our house tonight," Mac suggested and led her off the dance floor.

"Ok, I'll let Wallace know."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

In the morning Veronica woke up to chaos around her. She could hear Cody and Dean yelling and running around. Mac and Max were discussing the plans for the day and making breakfast. Veronica sauntered into the kitchen and took a piece of bacon from the table.

"Morning," both Mac and Max said at the same time and then smiled at each other. As Mac was buttering toast Max wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed her neck.

"Hey, I paid for the PG show you know," she laughed to herself so glad that Mac had such a great thing going. Who knew they would have made such an amazing husband and wife and parents on top of that. They made it look so easy, if only it was.

"Can you help me with some research today? Do you have time?" Veronica asked Mac.

"Have I ever not made time for you?" she said with a laugh and took the boys to get them ready for a play date.

After the kids and Max were gone Mac took Veronica to her office downstairs in the basement. At first Veronica felt bad that she was stuck down in the basement until she realized it was more of a lair. It reminded her of an office that Bruce Wayne might have.

"Welcome to my lair Veronica," Mac said with pride as she walked in and sat down at her massive apple computer with 3 different screens.

"I'm impressed, are you a superhero in your free time?" Veronica said still taking in the room.

"If you consider mommy a superhero," she laughed.

"I do Mac," she said pulling up a seat next to her.

"So what are we researching now?" she asked as she starting typing and moving the mouse around.

"I want to know where Logan's ex-wife Lisa is..."

"You know I looked into this after she left but it hurt Logan too much so I stopped, I told him we'd hit a dead end," she said honestly.

"What did you last find out?"

"Well I look her up every once and a while and a few months ago she was living in Texas. She is with this guy she apparently dated when she was younger and he appears to be some kind of scam artist. She mentioned him a few times before but I don't know much, I thought he was someone she wanted nothing to do with."

"So you 2 were friends?" Veronica asked feeling a little jealous.

"Yeah...the world of motherhood can get a bit lonely sometimes," Mac admits.

"Sorry I haven't been there for you as much as I should have been, I'm a shit friend."

"It's ok, it's who you are, I've always known that. Though...you could call once and a while," Mac squeezes her hand and they both smile.

"I will..."

"I'll do some research and let you know what I find, may take a few days ok?"

"That's fine, I'm heading to bed," Veronica yawns and heads off to bed.

The next day Veronica met with a woman who had emailed her about finding information about possibly being fired wrongly. It was nice to do a little of the lower key work in Neptune since the work she does lately can be intense to say the least. She spent the day looking doing her usual research and badgering people. She could feel how much everyone had missed her, really.

Before she knew it, it was nearing 6:00 and she was due at Logan's house. She pulled up in front of the address he gave her and she was surprised that the house was really nice but nothing extravagant. She was so used to Logan in either a mansion or the pent house. This was a simple house, not small but not enormous either.

When she got to the door she took a deep breath before she knocked. Just as she was about to knock again the door swung open and there was a little girl standing in front of her. She was about 4 years old with brown ringlets and freckles. Veronica was blown away how much she looked like Logan, she had his eyes and his smile.

"Hey," said Logan running up to swoop the little girl up into his arms, "I see you've met Lucy," he said with a big grin and kissed her on the cheek.

"I sure hope she is yours or else we have a problem," she said walking into the house and putting her bag down.

"Oh she'd mine, all mine," he said hugging her and putting her back on the ground.

"You're a marshmallow!" Lucy said pointing at Veronica and giggling.

Veronica looked up at Logan with a soft smile realizing he'd mentioned her to his little girl and she noticed something in the way he looked at her. He still looked at her the way he had so many years ago, despite everything she'd done to him.

"Want a beer?" he asked heading to the refrigerator that was covered in what she assumed to be Lucy's drawings.

"Sounds great," Veronica replied as they sat down in his living room. The floor was covered in toys and Wallace & Grommit was on the tv. Lucy sat down on the floor and immediately got engrossed in the dvd playing.

"So details, seems you have a lot to share," she said taking a sip of her beer and getting comfortable.

"Well, I was dating Lisa and things were good. She got pregnant and we decided to get married and move in together. Lucy was born and Lisa didn't handle motherhood very well. She grew distant and before I knew it left. She told me she just couldn't do it and that she was leaving with her ex-boyfriend. I've been taking care of this little peanut ever since," he said looking over at Lucy and his whole face glowed.

"I can't believe you're a dad and it seems to suit you," she said smiling.

"It might even suit me better than delinquent rich boy," he laughed.

They had dinner and Lucy talked and talked the entire time. Veronica was amused to see how much she took after her dad. She was such a little smartass but so incredibly sweet. Lucy got sauce all over her face so Logan took her upstairs to clean her up and put her to bed.

Veronica wandered around checking out the pictures, etc., as she normally did. She found the picture of Logan and Lisa together on their wedding day. She had to admit, they seemed pretty happy but then everyone did on their wedding day. Mostly there were pictures of Lucy as an infant and shots of her over the years.

After a while Logan came back downstairs, grabbed another beer and they sat back down in the living room.

"She was so hyper, took me 3 books to get her to go to sleep," he laughed.

"She's amazing Logan, you've grown up so much."

"Thanks, we're a team. It's nice having a girl who never leaves," he said kind of softly and Veronica felt a pang of guilt. She'd always kind of told herself that Logan didn't really need her and that she was too grown up for him but it had been the other way around. Everyone else was growing up and she was playing Nancy Drew.

"I never really got to say I'm sorry, for what I did to you back then, for everything I did to you," she was barely able to get out.

"It's ok, hey if you had stayed I wouldn't have had Lucy so I guess everything happens for a reason, right?" he looked down at his beer as he peeled at the label.

"It's not ok, I regretted leaving you the moment I walked out the door but something she won't let me sit still. Quite honestly, I'm surprised you even wanted to see me," she shrugged barely able to look at him.

"I am not angry like I used to be, I'm kind of a softy now. Plus, you know I could never hate you," he said looking into her eyes so deeply she thought she'd melt right there.

Veronica couldn't help but remember how whenever they were alone like this, Logan was always giving her kisses or just touching her face. It was always Logan giving to her and she always took. It was always Logan saving her and Veronica blaming him. What did she ever do for him?

"I should probably head home or rather to my dad's place," she said getting up and heading to the door.

"I hope we can hang out again and catch up more," he said standing so close to her she could feel his warmth radiating from him. She looked up at him and for a moment it felt nothing had changed and it was just the two of them as always. It felt as if they were still in love and that she'd never broken his heart.

If she'd been thinking with her head she would have said goodbye with a firm handshake and walked out the door. Instead she moved closer to him, slowly. She touched her hand to his stomach not looking at him but breathing heavily. She went up on her tippy toes and pulled herself into him by his shirt. She moved her head so their lips were nearly touching and he still smelled the same as he always did, which only drew her in more. Her lips touched his lightly and they started to kiss. Her heart was beating so hard she thought she was going to have a heart attack. All she could think was: how have I gone so long without this?

Just as she began to sink into him he pulled away. She could see he was out of breath and that it was difficult for him but he was stronger than her now, she felt it.

"We can't - I can't," he stepped away trying to let the heat between them cool down.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have," she said embarrassed.

"I want to but I can't just do whatever I want whenever I want anymore, I have to think of-"

Veronica cut him off "Lucy, yeah, you're right," she said picking up her bag and opening the door.

"I still really want to be friends, I want you in my life," he said taking her hand so she wouldn't run off.

"Of course, always," she said as he let go and she headed to her car.

Back at her father's house she couldn't go to sleep so she was sitting in the living room doing some research on her laptop. Her father had come out to the kitchen to get some water and saw her on the sofa, "can't sleep? Things not go so well with Logan tonight?"

"I made a mistake leaving him, I broke his heart. But he's doing so well, he's a father and it's like he was born to be one. I thought I destroyed him but I think me leaving him let him become the guy he needed to be. Maybe I was the one holding him back all the years not the other way around," she sighed.

"I never told you he asked me if he could propose to you," he said touching her arm with a smile.

"He did? Logan?" she was genuinely shocked.

"Yeah, I think he grew up a long time ago because he wanted to be the guy you needed. I never liked him when you guys were younger, you knew that. After you guys were together a long time I noticed how much he changed and it was because of you. Don't get me wrong, you hurt him a lot when you left."

"Yeah..." she had no words.

"I think you hurt yourself even more Veronica," he told her.

"What do you mean?"

"I think you refuse to need him as much as you do. You don't want to need anyone but yourself because of how hard it is to trust. You know you trust Logan, more than almost anyone and trusting him that much is giving up control," he said getting up and putting his empty glass in the sink.

"When did you become a shrink?" she asked with tears in her eyes.

"It's just part of being your dad, you're a complicated girl and I love that about you. Get some sleep..." he said kissing her on the forehead and going off to bed.

Well...damn.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Before heading out for the day cracking skulls Veronica checked in with Mac to see if she found anything on Lisa.

"Sorry, I haven't found anything substantial except that a month ago she was staying in a motel in Texas. I'm going to keep looking but I have a full mommy day today," she said sighing.

"I get it, no rush, thanks Mac," she said hanging up and pulling over to the side of the road. She had ended up right across from Logan's house. She wasn't stalking, she was just...checking in on him. Yeah, that's it. She had to check a few emails anyway. She turned up her iPod and the song Someday by Campfire Girls came on and it was way too telling.

Someday, yea, when the world has let you down, I will be the one you think about when there's no one else around, someday. Hey, when you are old and grey, I will be the one you will always say that you couldn´t replace, someday.

"Yeah, I get it, I get it," she said out loud to herself and to the world mocking her.

She got caught up for a bit answering emails and looking up leads to some cases she was working on. Suddenly there was a knock on her window and she jumped out of her skin. It was Logan crouching by the window waving with his big goofy smile. Oh shit, how was she going to get herself out of this one?

"I don't know if I should be flattered or worried that I'm one of your cases," he asked as she rolled down her window.

"Neither, it's just a coincidence," she said knowing he didn't believe that.

"Ahh," he said with a smirk, "well since you're here anyway how would you like to come with us to the carnival?"

"Uhhh, yeah...sure," she said even though she had a lot of work to do but the way he was looking at her was weakening her resolve.

At the carnival Logan first got Lucy a cotton candy, which she immediately got all over her face, and then we headed to the merry-go-round. Lucy started jumping up and down about going on the horsie.

"Ok ok Luce, hold your horsies," he said and she giggled.

"Daddy!" she said making a face at him.

Veronica smiled to herself, somehow daddy Logan was even sexier than the Logan she knew so many years ago. They got on the merry-go-round Logan got on the yellow horse and Veronica helped him put Lucy on his lap. She was so excited she was bouncing uncontrollably. Veronica got on the blue horse next to them as the ride started slowly.

Lucy was laughing and squealing and Logan couldn't stop squeezing her. He turned to look at Veronica who was laughing and having so much fun.

"I can't believe you're here, I'd always hoped you'd come back. I hate not having you in my life, something always felt missing, you know?"

"Yeah..." he reached out and squeezed her hand.

When the ride ended Veronica helped Lucy get down and she immediately ran off. Logan got down and yelled after her "Lucy, what have I told you about running off? You have to always hold my hand!"

They both tried to chase after her but a bunch of people started getting on the ride and slowed them down.

"Move it people or prepare to get tased," she said shoving people aside and furiously trying to get to Lucy.

When they finally got to the other side of the ride Lucy wasn't there. They then started running around the area calling Lucy's name. Veronica felt so panicked she thought she would explode and Logan looked a thousand times worse. His face had grown pale and he looked like he could cry.

After 1 hour of running around and notifying authorities they hadn't found her. Logan was beside himself with grief and she could see the old rage boiling up inside him. He was ready to pound whoever he found to have his daughter.

"It's going to be ok Logan," Veronica said with her hands firmly holding his arms, "we're going to find her. I promise you."

"I can't-" he said having trouble breathing, "I can't lose her, not her."

Logan pulled Veronica into his arms and hugged her as tight as he could, so tight she could barely breath.

Logan didn't want to leave but Veronica eventually convinced him to that there wasn't anything else they could do. They went back to his house and she made phone calls and googled some ideas. She called Mac and she agreed to do everything in her power to help them, even if she had to stay up all night.

She brought two mugs of tea into the living room and saw that he was by the window looking out. She walked up to him and handed him a mug. Logan just held it and continued to stare out the window.

"Do you have any idea who could have taken her? I know you're upset but the more information I could have the better," she said gently.

"Well...the reason I noticed you earlier because there has been a blue car I've noticed nearby lately. If I saw the car again I was going to mention it to your dad but today I see the car," he said taking a sip of the tea and looking back out the window.

"Did you call her mother?" she asked.

"Yeah, of course she never answers, probably lost her cell phone again as she does all the time."

"Did you notice anything else about the car? Bumper stickers? The license plate? Anything distinctive?"

"No, it was too far away, I didn't put too much thought into it until now," he said and then turned around to Veronica, "we need to go back to the carnival. I can't just stand here and wait."

"Nothing is open right now, we're going to have to wait to get more information in the morning," she said and he wrapped his arms around her.

In the morning Veronica woke up on the sofa to see Logan wasn't around. She jumped up nervously and called his name but no answer. She opened the door not sure where to look when she found him on the front stairs with his head in his hands.

"Didn't you sleep at all?" she asked standing over him.

"No," he mumbled.

"You're going to need sleep if we're going to-" but he cut her off.

"If you were a parent you'd know why I didn't sleep last night, we can't all function like Veronica Mars," he said bitingly.

"Ok..." she said keeping her remarks to herself, "the carnival main office should be open now, we're going to go see if they have any video cameras."

At the main office they found out that the police already had the videotapes so it was time for Veronica to pay a visit to her father at work.

"Hi daddy!" Veronica yelled while waving her hand from the front desk at the police department to her father across the room. He looked over at her and sighed as he motioned for her to come into his office.

"Must you do that every time you come here?" Keith commented as he sat down at his desk.

"Can we see the videotape from the carnival?" she asked sweetly.

"You know I can't let you see them, they are part of an open investigation," he said but added, "I wish I could though."

"I can't sit around and wait for the police to figure this out, I have to be able to do something," Logan said starting to pace the room.

"Everyone knows who my daughter is and I can't afford to make any mistakes,"

"Sheriff Mars, I want you to imagine," Logan said barely able to get the words out, "imagine that this happened to Veronica when she was Lucy's age. Could you have just sat back and wait until the police found her?"

The thought of this was like a flash of pain that came over Keith's face and you could see him losing some control.

"Ok, the best I can do is tell you it was a guy with a grey baseball hat on and he drove a blue Honda Accord," he said with a shrug.

Veronica looked at Logan who had lost all the color to his face.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

If you want to follow my posts about this, sometimes I ask for suggestions and thoughts you can do so here Oh Wow, Lovely.

With a call to Mac it turned out she had a hunch after some research. She found the same kind of car located at a motel 5 hours away. Logan insisted on driving but he was so tired and so out of his mind at this point. It was raining and he was driving too fast, erratically.

"Logan, slow down, please," she said anxiously.

"What if we don't get there in time?" he said frantically.

"Seriously, if we crash that is going to make this trip even more delayed, pull over and let me drive. I have a lead foot, don't worry," she said and he pulled over to let her take the driver's seat.

As they are driving along Logan is fidgeting nervously, he keeps checking his phone for messages and flipping through stations. He gets frustrated and leans his head back on the seat running his hands through his hair in Logan fashion.

The song Shattered by O.A.R. came on the radio and it reverberated through the car. She could feel he was falling to pieces and it killed her. She just wanted to fix this and bring his little girl back to him. She could only imagine how terrified Lucy must be, it was obvious that her father was everything to her.

"I keep thinking about how scared she must be," he said his voice shaking, "I promised her I would always keep her safe and I wasn't able to. She doesn't even have her favorite blanket, she can't sleep without it."

Veronica didn't know what to say, what was there to say? She couldn't even come close to understanding his fear and pain right now. The best she could do was keep driving and get there as fast as she could.

Just under 3 hours later they arrived at the Seashell Motel and then went to the main desk. Veronica used her charm to find out if there was anyone staying here who drove a blue Honda and had a little girl with them. He didn't know anything about a little girl but he said there was a guy who checked into 30A the other day but was checking out tonight.

Logan panicked and ran full speed looking for the room and Veronica followed behind.

"Be careful Logan! We don't know if he'd armed!" she warned him but he wasn't listening. She knew though he'd be careful when it came to Lucy.

He got so far ahead of her she didn't know where he was until she came to an open door and him standing in an empty room. She didn't even recognize him at that moment, he was so defeated and destroyed. On the floor he found one of Lucy's socks and fell to his knees but not making a sound, he was unable to process the situation, understandably.

After Veronica comforted him she went and got them a room at the motel for the night. They had no other leads at the moment and Logan needed to sleep if he was going to be of any use tomorrow. When Veronica went to the car she found Logan just standing motionless in the rain, getting soaked.

"Logan?" Veronica said walking towards him but he didn't response.

She touched his arm and he burst out crying like she'd never seen. He'd cried like this once before when he lost all hope in his mother being alive but this time it was so much worse. She hugged him and he cried as the rain poured down on them.

"I can't lose her, she's my whole life," he cried, she could feel him shaking.

"We know she's ok, we're going to find her, I promise you that," she said hugging him tighter.

He pulled back as the rain poured down his face washing away the tears. He looked into her eyes as he swept her rain soaked hair out of her face.

"I need you," he said barely holding it together.

"You have me," she said with tears in her eyes.

He then pulled her to him and kissed her so hard it almost hurt, but didn't. This passion between them was different than all the other times. Sometimes their passion was about love, sometimes heat and sometimes anger but this time it was utter desperation. She could feel the way his lips furiously kissed her lips and neck that he was just trying to make sense of anything, that he just had to feel something real. Veronica was ok with that, she just wanted to be with him in whatever way she could.

They stumbled into the rented room and stripped off each other's drenched clothes. Before when they used to have sex they laughed, talked dirty or at least had music on. This time all you could hear was their heavy breathing, other than that it was filled with silence.

As she got down to her underwear and bra he pushed her up against the wall and she thought she might actually just die of how much she wanted him. He stopped for a second and looked at her so deeply she got actual goosebumps all over her body. He then unsnapped her bra and through it to the floor. Then he kneeled down in front of her and slowly took off her underwear. Still kneeling he looked up at her and she started to shake.

He stood up with worry on his face, wrapped his strong slippery arms around her and she wrapped her legs around his body. He carried her to the bed and it was so much more than all the times they'd been together in the past. This time they were older, wiser and all the time without each other seemed to have built up between them over the years.

Afterward they laid in each others arms a mixture of sweat and rain. Logan was running his hand up and down her bare arm. Veronica was resting her head on his bare chest and could feel his heart pounding.

"When Lucy's mom left she slept in my bed for 6 months. She talked in her sleep and sometimes I'd stay up and just listen to her mumbling nothing intelligible. She loves broccoli and hates ice cream. She begs me to get her a puppy every single day..." he said with a mixture of love and sadness.

"Logan, you need to sleep," she said pulling back and looking at him and then saw he had fallen deep asleep.

She laid her head back on his chest and fell asleep.

Veronica was woken up at 5am by Mac calling her, she had another location for them to go to. Immediately she was worried about Logan because he was unraveling at the seams, she didn't want to push him over the edge. Still, she knew they had to follow the lead and that Logan was coming with her no matter what.

They grabbed some egg sandwiches and got back on the road. There was silence in the car, neither of them knew what to say. The last thing she wanted was Logan feeling bad about last night on top of what he was already dealing with.

"So...last night..." Logan trailed off not knowing what to say.

"It doesn't matter. I mean, it matters but not right now. You were distraught and you needed to get out of your head. Believe me, I get it," she said focusing on the road.

"I know, I just wanted you to know, it didn't mean nothing," he said and she could feel him looking at her but she couldn't look at him at the moment, she was feeling too much.

About 5 hours later they got to the motel that Mac told them about and as they pulled up she felt Logan practically jump out of his seat.

"That's the car! That's the fucking car that was parked outside of the house all the time!" he said going into a rage.

"We can't go running after them, we don't know if who has Lucy might have a gun or something. We have to be careful," she said urgently to Logan while trying to hold him back with her hand to his chest.

They pulled up across the street and Veronica called her father to let them know what was going on.

"I can't just sit here and wait, we have to do something," Logan said and she could feel his patience was only a memory.

"Ok, but don't just run up to the door swinging, I have an idea," she said as they got out of the car and headed towards the motel.

Veronica put on a uniform of the people who clean the rooms and stole one of the carts full of supplies. Logan waited around the corner as she knocked on the door saying "cleaning service!"

A voice behind the door shouted that they weren't interested and that she should go away. Logan was getting irritated so she knocked again acting like she couldn't hear them "cleaning service, I'm coming in!" and she started to turn the knob. A stocky guy with a grey baseball hat on and a goatee answered the door.

Before Veronica could utter a word Logan burst through the doorway and pushed the guy up against the wall with his forearm over his throat.

"Where the fuck is Lucy?" he yelled in his so much he was spitting on him.

"I don't know what you are talking about?" the guy said looking terrified.

"Yes. You. Do," he said pushing harder and the guy started coughing not being able to breathe.

"Logan...someone is in the bathroom..." she said motioning towards the closed door across the room.

Logan let go of the guy and the guy dropped to the floor gasping for breath. He ran over to the bathroom and opened the door to find Lucy sitting cross legged on the closed toilet. She looked dirty and scared but her eyes lit up when she saw her father.

"Lucy!" Logan said in pure relief, almost as if he couldn't believe she was really in front of him.

"Daddy!" Lucy screamed with joy as she ran to Logan and jumped in his arms. He hugged her so tight.

"I'm never letting you out of my sight again, just so you know," he said with tears in his eyes.

Veronica came walking up behind him and saw the woman sitting on the edge of the bathtub. She had dark brown curly hair and freckles. She'd never seen her before but knew exactly who she was.

"Lisa, I've heard so much about you," Veronica said in her usual condescending voice and that's when Logan actually saw her there.

"Lisa? You took Lucy?" he said fuming but trying not to lose control with Lucy there.

"She's my daughter too you know," she said indignant.

"Not since you walked out on her, you lost all your rights when you did that! Giving birth doesn't make you a parent, being there every. single. day makes you a parent!" he growled and walked away still holding Lucy.

"She needs me!" she yelled at Logan.

"No," Logan said not even turning around, "past tense Lisa."

"Let me guess," she turned her vengeance to Veronica, "you're the infamous Veronica?"

"If by 'infamous' you mean for catching the scum of the earth and making them pay for doing shitty things then yeah, I'm her," Veronica said barely able to contain herself from strangling her.

"You're the love of Logan's life, you're all I've ever heard about since I met him. I thought you'd have a bigger chest," she snarled.

"Well I thought you'd have better comebacks," Veronica said as the police came through the door.

When they got outside Veronica sank into Logan and he pulled her into him and Lucy in a big hug. No case that she'd ever solved felt so good.

On the drive back to Neptune Logan drove and Lucy was in the car seat in the back. Veronica noticed that Logan kept looking in the rear view mirror to make sure she was there. Still, a calm had come back to him.

"I missed you daddy!" Lucy said for the 10th time since they got into the car.

"I missed you too, you know we can thank Marshmallow, she helped me find you," he said squeezing Veronica's hand.

"Daddy?" Lucy called from the back seat.

"Yes bunny?" he replied with what she assumed to be his nickname for her.

"Can Marshmallow come back to our house with us?" she asked and when Veronica turned around to look back at her Lucy giggled. Veronica's whole heart filled to the brim and nearly exploded at that moment. How could you not adore this little girl?

"You know Luce, you really need a bath and some sleep," he said very parental.

"But daddy! Please!" she begged unmercellisly.

He sighed and smiled "ok sure, if she doesn't mind," he said looking over at Veronica and she nodded with a smile.

"I'd be happy to."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

If you want to follow my posts about this, sometimes I ask for suggestions and thoughts you can do so here Oh Wow, Lovely.

After they gave their statements at the police station they went back to Logan's house. Veronica helped Logan give Lucy a bath and put her to bed. Logan wanted to stay in her room while she slept, he was so afraid to leave her side but Veronica suggested they use a baby monitor to hear what was going on in the room. Also she said they could check every 10 minutes. Most importantly, Lucy and her scam artist boyfriend were under arrest.

Mac stopped by to offer some help, she'd been in contact with them the entire time trying to help them find Lucy.

"I'm going to make you guys some dinner, you two need to clean up and that kind of thing. I'll check on Lucy periodically too, so don't worry, ok?"

"Ok but I'm going to check on her one more time first," he said heading upstairs.

"Dude, I can feel the tension between you guys? What happened?" Mac said grabbing the wine and pouring them each a glass.

"We totally did it," Veronica said taking a glass of wine from Mac and sitting on the stool at the kitchen island with her turning into 17 year-olds again.

"No way!" Mac said excitedly.

"Way!" Veronica said as they clinked glasses.

"So what does this mean?" she asked leaning in.

"I don't know but I don't want to push anything, I don't even know for sure what I want," she admitted.

"You better figure it out soon because you can't drop him again. He's not just Logan who acts so tough, he has a little girl now as part of the package," Mac said seriously.

"I know, that's why I'm trying to keep it simple until I figure it out," she said taking a big gulp of her wine.

"So you mean just sex?" Mac raised an eyebrow and smirked.

Veronica only smiled back.

She went upstairs and found Logan sitting by Lucy's bed touching her hair softly. It was amazing, she could remember so many times he'd done the same with her. He really was all about protecting the people he loved and he did that to the end of the earth.

"Do you mind if I take a shower?" she whispered from the doorway.

"Sure," he looked up at her and she felt so comfortable here already.

She went off to the shower, it was a huge bathroom with both a stand up shower with glass walls and a separate jacuzzi bath. She closed the door, turned on the water, took off her clothes and stepped in. The warm water felt amazing, like it was washing away all the uneasiness that was in the air. She wanted to just shut her mind off, for at least a few minutes but she was never able to do that, it was part of her problem. Part of her wanted to fall back into Logan's arms hoping he'd let her stay there indefinitely but another part of her was still itching to go off on a case. Part of her was missing wandering around a foreign country putting pieces together. It was what she did well, relationships? Not so much.

Suddenly she felt the shower door open and a breeze of air ran over her naked body. She felt hands on her back and then wrapped around her. Lips were on her shoulder and a naked torso pressed up against her.

"I've always wanted some stranger to soap me up in the shower, it's my lucky day!" she remarked not turning around.

"Just when I think I've finally let you go you show up again and I realize I can never really let you go," he said running his hands down her back.

"What does that mean?" she asked as he gasped for breath briefly.

"It means, I can't seem to hold onto you or let you go, I'm trapped in a Veronica tornado..."

"I think that was supposed to be more of a compliment than it sounded," she turned around to him and he wiped her soaked hair from her face.

"You're amazing," he caressed her neck and shoulder, "you just never cease to amaze me."

"You deserve better Logan," she said trying so hard to be responsible.

"Self-depreciating doesn't suit you."

"What are we doing?" asked without thinking.

"I have no idea," he said pulling her into a kiss and pushing her up against the shower wall.

After their "shower" Logan got dressed and went to go check on Lucy again, Veronica had to assume he'd relax a bit as time went on. Though she knew better than anyone that he worried about the girls in his life and in that way he'd never change.

Veronica went downstairs and found Mac had just finished making a lasagna. She then saw that Max had showed up with their two little boys. The boys were playing with Star Trek toys and Max was on his iPhone doing some kind of work she assumed.

"When did you guys move in?" Veronica asked walking into the kitchen.

"Just wait until we bring in all the Star Wars memorabilia," Max smiled without looking up from his phone.

Veronica decided to check her emails quickly before they sat down for dinner and she noticed that she had a really important email. She'd declined a few requests since she'd been back in Neptune but she knew she couldn't ignore this one.. The problem was she was really happy where she was at the moment and she didn't want to leave. This was how her life was, when things finally felt comfortable suddenly a wrench was thrown into the mix.

Logan came downstairs with a waking up Lucy in his arms. She clung to him, not wanting to let him go but when she saw everyone at the dining room her eyes lit up and gladly sat down at the table. For dinner everyone ate, laughed and talked about the "old times." Every once and a while she and Logan caught a glance across the table and her heart swelled. For once she wasn't ready to leave him, she didn't want to run away but she didn't have an option.

After dinner Mac and her family headed home. Veronica helped Logan clean up and they put on Little Mermaid for Lucy, which is her favorite movie. When Lucy wasn't looking Logan would sneak a kiss from Veronica and it felt like their early days of dating when they hid their relationship from everyone. As the evening came Logan put Lucy to bed and met up with Veronica in the hallway.

"So..." Veronica smiled while leaning against the wall with her hands in her front pockets.

"Yeah..." he replied adding to the awkward moment.

"Listen, you really just have to pay me my boning fee and I'll be on my way. I have other suitors to get to tonight," she said putting her hand out for the money.

"I sincerely doubt I could afford you," he said walking up to her putting his hand just under her shirt touching her torso.

"Maybe we can setup an installment," she said pulling his shirt so he was closer to her.

"Or maybe you could stay over tonight..." he said softly.

"Are you sure? I don't want to confuse Lucy," she said as he pulled her by the waist to the bedroom.

"Maybe we can sneak you out early and bring you back for breakfast? Would you mind? I want to take things slow."

"Yeah, speaking of that I need to talk to you about something," she said trying to pull away from him unsuccessfully for a moment to tell him she had to leave him again.

"Talking is my second best quality," he said closing his door behind him with his foot while simultaneously pulling off her shirt. They fell to the bed with him on top of her as they continued to pull each other's clothes off. He kissed every inch of her including her ankles and her elbows. As they rolled around on the bed they laughed and teased each other.

Later she laid in his arms sweaty and twisted up in the sheets. She didn't want to ruin the moment right now because everything was perfect but in reality it wasn't.

"Logan, I have to leave tomorrow morning," she spit out so she didn't lose her nerve.

"Ahh," he replied and she could feel his disappointment.

"I want you to know I'm not leaving you, I just have to go on a case," she said sitting up and turning to look at him, "I've turned down a lot of other cases but this one I have to handle myself."

"It's ok," he said with a smile but a twinge of sadness in his eyes, "I understand. I never expected you to stick around."

"Oh," she frowned, not sure how to take that.

"It was great though, I had no expectations," he sat up and ran his fingers through her hair.

"You don't hate me?" she did her cute little pout.

"No Ronnie, I could never hate you and believe me I've tried," he pulled her back down to the bed as she turned around so he could curl up behind her and spoon.

The next morning she was up extra early so she could head over to her dad's house and pack up her things to catch a 7:30 flight to Australia. The sun was just coming up and Logan walked her out to her car. It was a beautiful light peaking through the trees and softening the moment around them.

"It was good seeing you again," Logan said holding her hand and looking into her eyes making her want to cry. When did she get so soft?

"Ok, I'm going to throw this out there but...when I finish up with this case can I come back?" she said looking up at him hopefully.

"Here?" he said and a brief smile passed over his face.

"Yeah, I really want to take some time off," she said grinning and leaning into him.

"You? Not chasing down bad guys?"

"I was thinking of chasing you down for a while," she said with a growl..

"Why Veronica, I do declare!" he said like a southern bell.

"So uhm, I'll see you in a week or so, keep nice and pretty for me while I'm gone," she said slapping his ass.

"I always knew all you wanted me for was my body," he said as she got in her car and rolled down her window.

"Don't forget your charm, your body and your charm," she said as she drove off. She saw in her rear view mirror Logan watching her drive away and he was still there until she went around the corner.

Many hours later Veronica found herself wandering aimlessly through Australia's airport looking for her client. As the crowd broke a bit she saw a guy standing there with a baseball hat on, a beard and a sign that said "Chesty LaRue." Veronica walked right up to him.

"I don't go by that name anymore you should know," she said dropping her bag to the ground and grabbing the sign.

"Sorry, I'm a bit out-of-the-loop," Duncan said with a smile.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Duncan helped Veronica with her bags and took her to a very off-the-beaten path location. They caught up on a lot of stuff, particularly how his daughter Lilly was doing. He said she was nearly 10 years old now and is really smart. He warned Veronica that she looks a lot like his sister Lilly that it's a little daunting somehow. She also had so much energy and intensity like his sister had.

The house was definitely nowhere near any other residents and very cozy. As they walked into the house they walked by Lilly's bedroom to find Lilly listening to Jimmy Eat World and dancing around the room without a care in the world.

"Lil! Hey you!" Duncan yelled over the music and she ran to turn the music down. She bounced back over to the door where they were standing, "this is V, you remember me telling you about her."

"Hi!" she waved with a big smile and Veronica lost her breath for a moment, she could have been Lilly's little sister she looked so much like her. She had huge curious eyes and long blond hair.

"Hi," Veronica said but then Duncan took her to the guest room and put her bags down, "you weren't kidding that she looked just like Lilly."

"Yeah I almost regret giving her the same name now, it's freaky at times. Mostly she goes by her middle name Eva, it helps since we want to stay off the radar," he admitted and then showed her where the bathroom and towels were.

They went out to the back porch that looked over the ocean. The location was by a cove that kept the area hidden but the area was so gorgeous she could hardly believe it. There was a boat down by the shore. Veronica sat in one of the chairs and Duncan came out with a drink for each of them.

"This is amazing Duncan, what a place," she said taking the sights in.

"Yeah, I wanted to make sure we were off the radar. She has a tutor but I want to start sending her to school but I have to make sure she's protected," he said taking a sip while looking out over the ocean.

"Ok but why did I need to come all the way out here to do this? I could have done it from my computer," she said looking over at him and he looked at her.

"It gets lonely here, we're so isolated, I want to do this right and also...I wanted to see you," he said looking down.

"Oh wow, ok, I don't know what to say," she said feeling an awkward moment coming on.

"No, not like that, as a friend, I know that's not an option given my circumstances, not that I don't think about it," he said as the tension filled between them. She missed the ease she had with him and the simplicity. It was never really complicated with them...well except for that whole thinking they were siblings thing. But when it came to just moments together it was so easy.

"I got the feeling this was urgent, what else is going on?"

"Well, I have had the feeling that when we are out someone has been following us but I can't say for sure, I don't have the paranoia you have," he smiled and took a sip.

"My paranoia is a skill I've worked on for many years, it doesn't come easily," she smirked.

"I'll be back, I have some work to do," he said touching her shoulder briefly and heading back into the house.

About ten minutes later Eva came out and sat down next to Veronica. She was wearing short cotton shorts and a tank top with no shoes on. Veronica couldn't help but wonder how much she new about her namesake.

"So you're going to try to help me get out of this house," Eva asked putting her feet up on the table across from her and crossing her feet.

"I'm going to do the best that I can," she had no idea how much or how little she knew, she had to be careful.

"You used to date my dad right?" she asked out of nowhere.

"Yeah, a very long time ago," she admitted carefully.

"I think he still loves you," she said nonchalantly as if she was talking about what kind of ice cream he likes.

"We still care about each other a lot, we were very close when we were younger."

"Were you friends with my mom?" she asked trying to seem like she didn't care.

"I was, she was one of the sweetest people I've ever known," Veronica wanted to give her something but didn't want to get too specific.

"I just need some friends, you know? I watch tv and see all these great lives and I'm stuck here. I hate it," she said sounding like a normal kid in an abnormal situation.

"I'm going to do my best," Veronica told her.

"I used to think this was how everyone lives but now I can tell that's not true," she said sadly getting up and going down to the water to put her feet in.

Veronica went to find Duncan and he was sitting by the computer in deep thought.

"We really need to find you guys a better option than this, Eva needs more stimulation and so do you I think," she said leaning against his desk.

"Yeah, I knew this couldn't last forever. She's growing up so fast and even though i want to protect her I can't hide her away for her entire life, that will destroy her."

"I'm going to look into some options and come up with the best one for you guys but you will have to be willing to adjust everything, it's not going to be easy ok?"

"Ok, thanks so much for coming, sometimes I feel like I'm losing my mind out here."

"Can't say I blame you..."

As Veronica went to sleep that night she checked her phone and saw she had a couple texts. She had one from her dad telling her to be careful, as he always did when she went abroad on her own and one from Mac telling her she'd check in Logan for her. Then there was also a text from Logan that said:

I'm here if you need me, I'm always here.

Back in Neptune Logan was getting dressed for work when he found an envelope over by the window sill with his name on it. He opened the envelope to find the engagement ring he'd given Veronica so many years before. It still looked as shiny as the day he gave it to her. He felt a pang of what this meant but then noticed a small note in the envelope.

I've kept this with me since you gave it to me, it meant more to me than you'll ever know. I want you to hold onto this for me while I'm away so it isn't lost. Try not to worry, I'll be back as soon as I can.

He took the ring in his pocket and headed to work with a gleam in his eyes and a bit of worry in the back of his mind.

The next morning Veronica was up early heading out to some of the locations that Duncan had felt someone was following him. She brought her computer to a local coffee shop to research some stuff for Duncan and at the same time she kept an eye out for what was going on around her.

After a few hours she noticed a car parked across the street but the person didn't get out. It was a black SUV with tinted windows. Veronica packed up her stuff and casually headed to her car. As she opened the car door she paused after she put her bag inside and the car across the street turned on and drove away. She got in her car and tried to follow it. After about 20 minutes of driving she found the car parked at a nearby hotel. She went over and put a tracking device on the car and went inside the hotel's lobby to see if she saw anything suspicious.

After several hours she decided to head back as it was getting late. At Duncan's house he and Eva were playing a Wii tennis game, they were laughing and jumped around. She was so glad that even in these circumstances they were happy, as happy as they could be trapped all by themselves.

Veronica took him aside as Eva continued to play the game.

"I think I found the car that has been following you. I found the car later parked at a nearby hotel and I put a tracking device on it," she said opening up her computer and showing him the tracking program that showed a map and that it was still in the parking lot.

"Thanks, you make it look so easy," he touched her hand and she paused feeling it was more than just a casual friend thing.

"No problem, so when are you going to feed me? I'm famished," she said rubbing her belly.

Later that night she went onto her computer to get more work done, she was sitting at the desk overlooking the ocean in the guest room. She decided to take a peak on Facebook to see how Logan was doing and there was a recent picture of him and Lucy together he took with his cell phone. His most recent status update said:

There is no replacing you...not even with this blow up doll.

Veronica laughed and then noticed that Duncan had come in the room.

"I try to keep up with Logan when I can, his Facebook is set to private and my fake account on there he won't accept. Not that I blame him, I wouldn't trust some random person either," he said bending down next to her.

"He's a great father you know? It's amazing," she said smiling to herself.

"I'm not surprised at all, when he loves someone he loves them with everything he has," Duncan said standing back up and then sitting across from her on the deep window sill.

"You know...me neither, deep down I knew he had a lot to offer a child," she closed Facebook and turned to Dunan.

"I really appreciate you being here, you have no idea what it's meant to me and Eva," he said getting up and heading out of the room.

"I'm glad to help, really," she said and then went to bed.

The next morning she was having french toast in the breakfast room with Eva as the sun poured through the window. The tutor was going to show up in about a ½ hour and Veronica was waiting for the SUV to go somewhere.

Just as Veronica was putting the dishes in the sink the tutor walked in.

"Hi, I'm Beth, you must be V," she said shaking Veronica's hand, "Do you have a full name or anything?"

"I like to be mysterious, it keeps the guys guessing," she said as Beth sat down at the table and took out some books.

"You a friend of Mr. Wade," Beth asked and Veronica had to remind herself that he'd changed his last name.

"Yeah, from a long time ago," she said heading off to take a shower and get dressed. Just as she was about to turn the shower on she realized she'd forgotten her cell phone, she felt completely panicked without it. She ran back into the breakfast room and found Beth putting Veronica's bag back down on the table with a guilty look on her face.

"What were you doing in my bag?" Veronica asked trying not to freak out, she really hated people getting in her stuff.

"Oh it almost fell off the table, I just put it back up," she said nervously and went back to setting up her books.

Veronica took her bag into the bathroom with her and tried to see if anything had been taken, it didn't look like anything had. Then she found her phone in the middle of the bag, she usually put it in the side pocket. She slide the smart phone screen so it lit up and it looked normal. Then she went into her email and checked the sent messages. One of the private emails had been forwarded to an unknown email address. Normally she had her phone locked but while in the house she'd not worried about locking it. Damn, she just had to let her guard down for a minute and the shit hit the fan.

She ran back out to the breakfast room and saw that Beth and all her books were gone. Veronica was reeling, trying to figure out what had just happened.

"Duncan!" she yelled and he came running from the other side of the house.

"What?" he said worried, "is it Eva?"

"No, it's Beth, I think she was on my phone looking for something. How did you find her as a tutor?" she said heading to the bedroom and pulling a pair of jeans on and a shirt.

"CW found her for me, we had an extensive background check on her," he said worriedly running his hands through his hair.

"I have to call Mac!" she said heading to the bedroom for privacy so Eva wouldn't hear.

Twenty minutes after Veronica gave Mac the information she heard her phone ring. Mac was a godsend in her life, what did she ever do before her?

"So, spill it," Veronica said without a hello and putting her shoes on and getting her bag together.

"Well this Beth Marino isn't who she says she is, it was tough to find info on her because it was really hidden. Turns out her name is Kimberly Sorensen and she is linked to, and here's the kicker, Jake Kane."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Veronica and Duncan headed out in his car after they locked up the house and set the alarm so Eva was completely safe. They headed to Beth's, or really Kimberly's, apartment but it seemed she'd packed rather quickly and fled, which was no surprise. Of course Veronica broke into the apartment and snooped around as she always does. They quickly looked through drawers and then Veronica went to her computer but of course there was no computer, she'd probably taken her laptop with her.

"I can't find anything, can you?" Veronica said frustrated.

"No, nothing," Duncan sighed and they headed back to the car, "where are we going now?"

"To the hotel, I have a hunch," Veronica said as they sped off to the hotel.

When they got the parking lot Veronica jumped out and looked in a nearby bush to where the car had been parked when she put the tracking device on it.

"Yep, there it is," she quipped as she pulled it from out of the bush, "We're dealing with a pro here," she said to Duncan.

"What should we do?" he asked taking the tracking device from her.

"We're going to have to inconspicuously wait, do you have some time?" she asked taking his hand as if they were a couple and he raised his eyebrow.

"Nothing but time sweetheart."

They donned hats and glasses, whatever she had on her at the moment, luckily she was always prepared. They acted like they were a couple and went to the bar near the lobby of the hotel so they could see who walked through. They sipped mock cocktails for a while and then they saw a girl who looked surprisingly like Kimberly but in a dark suit and sunglasses. Of course, they followed her.

They followed her to a beach house 15 minutes away and watched her waltz up to the house. After she knocked someone let her in but they couldn't see who.

"I'm going to check out what's going on, you stay here because we can't risk you being found. Ok?" she said as she opened the door.

"Ok but if anything seems to happen I'm coming to find you," he said as she sneaked up to the house.

She went to the side of the house and climbed up on a crate nearby to look in the window. She saw Kimberly talking to someone but couldn't quite see who. She stood up on her tippy toes, desperately wishing for the 10,000th time that she was just a few inches taller. As Kimberly moved she could suddenly see the person she was talking to, it was Celeste Kane. With the shock she fell back off the crate to the ground and the window above her opened.

"Hi Veronica, it's been too long," Celeste said with a smile.

"Hi Celeste," Veronica said embarrassed and confused.

Veronica stood awkwardly in the living room of what appeared to be a little beach house of Celeste Kane's. She wanted to let Duncan know but all eyes were on her.

"Have a seat Veronica, it's time we have a chat," she motioned for the sofa and Veronica sat down and Celeste sat in the sofa chair across from her. She could see that Veronica was trying to figure out what to do.

"Can I use your bathroom," she asked fumbling with her stuff.

"Sure but Kimberly just went to ask Duncan to come in and join us," she said with a smile.

"How..." Veronica started as Duncan came into the house with Kimberly, he looked concerned, as he should be. He sat down on the sofa next to her and they gave each other a quick uncertain look.

"So you guys did a good job of hiding from me over the years, it wasn't until about 6 months ago I figured out where you were. I had private investigators all over the country trying to find you. For years I thought it was fruitless, it seemed you had disappeared from the planet. For a while I gave up and went into a deep depression. I'd lost my daughter, who I didn't love enough and then I lost my son who I couldn't love the way he needed me to. I also lost my granddaughter and then Jake and I separated," she said pausing getting teared up a little.

"Do you really expect me to just trust you?" Duncan said sounding like he felt bad but was still really angry.

"At that point I realized I had to change. I took some classes, went to therapy and just tried to be happy. To some extent I was, but you were always in the back of mind. I always wondered how your daughter was and how I was sure you were a great father," she took a tissue and blew her nose.

"You are aware that you hunting Duncan down like this could risk he and Eva's safety? Did this occur to you before you started this whole game?" Veronica asked indignantly.

"I promise you, I took every precaution and all I care about is protecting Duncan and Eva," she said looking straight into Veronica's eyes.

"If that were the case you would have left them alone," Veronica said taking Duncan's hand, she could feel his tension.

"You're right, I'm sorry. I just, you can't turn off being a mother, it never lets go of you. I tried to leave it alone, for so long but it ached so much..." she said standing up and going across the room trying to pull herself together.

"I have to get back to Eva," Duncan said getting up, "let's go Veronica."

They walked out of the house without looking back. Veronica was so angry at the danger that Celeste had so selfishly caused.

"We need to immediately pack everything up and get you to your new location. We have to change names and..." Veronica was rambling on until Duncan pulled her into his arms and hugged her.

"I'm so glad you're here, I don't know what I would have done," he pulled back from her but was still holding onto her tightly.

"I wish I could have stopped all of this from happening though," she said and looked up at him as he leaned down to kiss her. It was sweet and reminded her of easier days. She pulled away and patted him on his chest, "and with that it's time to go home."

Veronica was on her computer and phone all night setting everything up to get Duncan and Eva away as soon as possible. Duncan and Eva were busy packing up what they could, Eva was excited about the possibilities. After everything was setup and they were on their way Veronica had to deal with Celeste but she wasn't sure how she would go about that.

After she finished a phone call she crawled into bed exhausted. She opened her phone and found a message she'd missed, it was from Logan. It was a picture of Lucy holding up a sign that said "miss you." At that moment tears ran down her face and then she fell to sleep.

The next morning she woke to the smell of bacon and coffee filling the house. She shuffled out into the kitchen to see the kitchen table full of food, way too much for 3 people. Duncan was at the stove finishing up scrambled eggs and he looked so peaceful.

"What's going on?" Veronica asked confused taking a hot mug of coffee from Duncan and sitting down at the table.

"I thought a lot last night and decided to have my mom over for breakfast this morning," he said taking a sip of his coffee.

"But, we don't know what she could be up to?" Veronica replied taking a piece of bacon and shoving it all in her mouth.

"She's my mom and I know she loves me, she's just got a fucked up way of showing it. I now know what it's like to love someone so much that you sometimes make them miserable. Eva is miserable so I can protect her. My mom deserves a second chance," he said as there was a knock at the door and Duncan went and let Celeste in.

Breakfast was surprisingly touching and Veronica was surprised to see Celeste burst into tears when she met her granddaughter. Eva was so excited to meet a family member and you could see them all just come alive. Veronica went off to her bedroom to pack, she wasn't needed anymore.

After she put her packed bags by the front door she took a walk down to the shore. Duncan came down to join her and took her hand. She squeezed his hand and turned to him.

"Duncan..." she started but he interrupted her.

"Sorry about the kiss last night, it just felt so...easy to be with you. But, I can tell you have someone else on your mind," he said touching her face.

"Yeah..." she looked down.

She was waiting on the porch for her cab to show up and was going over final details with Duncan. She had a new place for him to stay, near a middle school for Eva in New Zealand. She had their protections in place but she wasn't going to change their names again. Duncan wanted to give Eva as normal of a life as he could.

Duncan, Eva and Celeste came down the front steps as her cab showed up.

"Thanks V!" Eva said as she hugged Veronica and she had a flash of hugging Lilly.

Celeste came up to Veronica and she had to admit, the woman looked softer and less guarded than she remembered her so many years ago.

"I know you don't trust me Veronica but we all change, even me. I just want my family back," she said with what appeared to be sincerity.

"What will you do if Duncan and Eva are found?"

"Whatever I have to do, I'll take the blame if I must," she said and Veronica believed her.

Duncan brought the bags over to the cab driver and walked up to Veronica.

"Thank you for everything, I'm going to miss you," he said smiling at her.

"I'll miss you too," she said as they hugged.

"Say hi to Logan for me," he whispered in her ear and she pulled back from him with a shocked look on her face.

"How did you know?" she asked.

"Because it was always Logan," he said with a sweet understanding.

As Veronica pulled away she felt good about how she was leaving Duncan, it was like that chapter of her life was really ending and it was time to really start the next chapter. She got an email on her phone and saw that it was a really big job, one that could take her away for months. It was a job in Germany and so much of her was itching to go. This trip reminded her of how much she loved what she did, how it was so much of who she was as a person.

When she got to the airport she walked up to the ticket desk.

"Where are you going?" the woman at the ticket counter asked with a big cheerful smile.

"When is your next flight to Berlin?"

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	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

After a long flight Veronica was happy to be back on the ground again even if she was weeding through the airport trying to find her luggage. She was tired and unsure if she made the right decision. As she looked ahead to the crowd of people she suddenly saw a little girl with brown curly hair running towards her at full speed. She jumped into her arms yelling "Marshmallow!"

"Lucy!" Veronica hugged her with all her might, she never expected to be so happy to see her.

Veronica looked across the lobby and saw among all the strangers a stunning guy in faded jeans, a t-shirt and converse sneakers. You could tell he was keeping his eye on Lucy and then his eyes caught Veronica's. A big smile spread across his face and he picked up his pace to catch up to them.

"I wasn't sure you'd come back, I know how much you like Australian men," he teased her as he took her hand and they headed to find her luggage.

"Well Hugh Jackman tried to woo me but I told him I had a superficial jackass waiting for me at home," she teased him back.

"I see your wit is intact, that's a relief."

They walked into Logan's house and he put her bags down in the hallway. Lucy ran off full speed to the fort she built in the living room and started playing spy with her teddy bears. Sometimes Veronica couldn't believe Lucy wasn't her kid, it was surreal. Before Veronica could get her bearings Logan pulled her into an intense kiss that was filled with all the longing of the past week. His hand went down her back and pulled her as close to him as he could.

"Wait, I can't get my breath," she said pulling away gasping and laughing.

"Sorry, not going to happen," he said kissing her neck and she giggled.

"I need to take a shower and answer some emails," she said trying to get away but not really trying.

"I can help you with that shower if you like," he suggested giving her soft kisses on her cheeks and nose.

"I think I can manage on my own," she smirked at him and headed upstairs.

Later that night after Lucy had gone to sleep and Veronica had caught up on some work on her computer she'd headed up to Logan's bedroom. She was surprised to see he wasn't in there but the bathroom light was on. She walked in to find the room filled with candles, a bathtub full of bubbles and Logan. He looked up at her with that shirt eating grin of his and she melted on the spot.

"You going to join me?" he asked as he held up some bubbles in his hand and blew them into the air towards her.

"I guess, as long as you don't try anything funny," she said raising her eyebrows at him.

"I promise I will not touch any of your lady bits but no promises you can keep your hands off of me."

"You are such a smart ass," she said taking her shoes and socks off.

"What can I say? You bring it out in me."

Veronica started taking off her clothes starting with her hoodie and locked eyes with Logan as it hit the floor. She continued to slowly take off her t-shirt and jeans, he never looked down at her body but instead just stared into her eyes. She then reached behind her back and unclipped her bra, letting it fall to the floor and stood there a moment. The way Logan looked through her sometimes made her so scared but so thrilled as well. She pulled down her underwear, stepped out of them and walked over to the bathtub.

"I love how confident you are now, you used to cover yourself up all the time. I never understood how you could hide your body," he said letting out a quick breath as he looked her up and down.

"I had some hurdles to get over, over the years," she said getting into the bath and sitting across from him. She sank down a bit into the water to cover herself with the warmth.

"So...how's Duncan?" he asked trying to make it look like it was casual.

"How did you know I went to see him?"

"I have my ways," he said looking slightly guilty.

"I don't want to know how you found out," she said putting some bubbles on her nose.

"Look at you being all mature and not grilling me," he said leaning forward and blowing the bubbles off her nose.

"I'm also going to ignore the fact that it was top secret and none of your business," she glared at him but with a smirk.

"I would never get in the way, I just wanted to make sure you were ok," he said taking her arm and pulling her over to him so her back was to him.

"Yeah yeah yeah..." she rolled her eyes.

"You staying put for a while or are you heading out again?" he asked pouring soapy water down her shoulders.

"I'm not sure..." she said leaning back into Logan as he put his arms around her.

"So how is Duncan? How's Lilly?"

"They are doing great, Lilly goes by her middle name Eva," she said thinking of them fondly, "Eva is so much like Lilly in so many ways."

"That's great, I miss him," he said resting his chin on the top of her head.

"Yeah..."

"Hey...I thought we weren't playing any hanky panky," he said laughing as Veronica put her hand under water..

"I made no promises," she said turning around and kissing him.

Curled up in bed together with just the slightest light of the moon washing over them. Veronica pulled away from him enough so she could look at him.

"The whole time away, I thought of you," she said touching her hand to his chest.

"Australia not enough of a distraction?" he asked.

"I didn't just mean Australia," she admitted.

He leaned over and kissed her delicately.

"Should I sneak out in the morning?" she asks understanding the situation.

"I think it will be ok, let's just not be obvious, I don't want to confuse her when we still don't know what this is," he said pulling her close to him again and within minutes she fell asleep.

The next day she met Keith and Wallace for lunch. Wallace had stopped by for a visit and Veronica hadn't had the chance to properly say goodbye to him before he left. She was sitting at one side of the table and Keith and Wallace were on the other side. She felt like it was an interrogation.

"So has the Logan and Veronica thing started up again?" Wallace questions her then takes a sip of his soda.

"Really? That's all you guys want to know about? My love life?" she quips taking a big bite of her burger.

"We're just concerned," Keith says nodding at Wallace for assurance, "you two just don't have the best track record."

"I know, you're right, but you know...the heart wants what the heart wants."

"How many times have we heard that from scumbags we've caught in the act," Keith points out using a french fry for emphasis.

"True but I'm not sneaking around with my 22 year old secretary, I'm just seeing a once ex-boyfriend," she sighed, "Also it was really never his fault, I'm the one that keeps being given a second, third and fourth chance. I'm not going to screw it up this time..."

"You sure you can chill out this time and just, you know, be happy?" Wallace asks.

"I'm sure going to try."

After lunch Keith went off to work so Veronica and Wallace took Patrick to the park.

"I still can't believe we have a little brother," Wallace said while he pushed Patrick on the swing.

"I know, it's weird," then Veronica added, "but it's pretty great too."

"So, you can tell me, have you packed your bags yet?" he asked with a grin.

"Am I really known as "the girl who runs away?" she asks.

"Hey, you've kind of made it an art form."

"You know, it's not like you're married with 2.5 kids or anything," she remarked.

"But I don't run out the door when things get serious, I just haven't found the right girl yet," he shrugs.

There was silence for a bit as he continued to push Patrick on the swing.

"Logan was always the right guy? Wasn't he?" he asked.

"I always denied it, I think I knew if I really allowed myself to give into how I really felt I'd be too vulnerable.

"So are you giving up your PI life on the road or what? I know you can't just sit still," he smirked.

"I'm thinking about my options, I kind of want to stick around here for the time being. I'm thinking about keeping my PI work to Southern California," she said with a shrug.

"I think that's great, you're growing up," he said giving her a little shove.

"That's it, noogie time!" she yells as she jumps on him.

When Veronica got back to Logan's place she knocked, as she always did and Logan answered the door.

"You know you don't have to knock right?" he points out as he pulls her into a hug and kisses her forehead.

"Yeah but it doesn't feel right, it's not like we live together or anything. I don't want to rush anything," she said leaning her head on his chest, "this here, is all that matters to me."

"I need more though," he and she pulled back.

"What do you mean?"

"I'd like you to move in," he says and her eyes light with a big grin.

"Don't you think it's a little soon? It's not even been a full month and we haven't really discussed what is going on," she says putting her bag down and going to the refrigerator to get a bottle of water.

"I'd think by now I wouldn't have to explain to you how I feel about you," he said looking at her from across the room.

"You don't...I just wouldn't blame you if you wanted to keep me at an arm's distance."

"Don't get me wrong, you destroyed me when you left. I woke up that morning and for days I refused to believe you had really left. I kept waiting for you to get back because I knew we were stronger than that this time. We'd been together for 4 years at that point and had an apartment together. There hadn't been any lying or betrayal or our usual bullshit. But you really didn't come back and I didn't know what to do, I felt empty. You broke my heart..." he said with his eyes watering.

"I..." she said as tears started to fall down her face, she just didn't know what to say. What was there to say?

"I started to come out of the fog when I met Lisa but it was when Lucy was born that I really came alive again. If you hadn't left I wouldn't have had Lucy and I can't imagine my life without her. Now you're here and I feel like I have everything. It's terrifying because part of me is just waiting for you to leave again and I know I should just push you away but I can't, I've never been able to," he said looking down not able to look at her.

"I'm so sorry Logan, you have no idea," she said walking up to him and taking his face in her hands. She stood up on her tippy toes and kissed him long and intently.

"I know..." he said pulling away, "I need to go pick up Lucy from her friend's house," he said grabbing his keys and walking out the door.

Veronica stood there in the hallway just staring at the door as she wiped her eyes.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Note: This story won't go on forever, I sort of have an idea how this will eventually end, just not sure when that will be.

After the unexpected moment in the hallway she and Logan hadn't talked very much. She'd spent most of her time at her dad's house. They were avoiding each other. There wasn't animosity or anger, just this big cloud over them that wasn't going away. Veronica knew she had to do something about it but she didn't know what. Part of her wanted to throw in the towel, it was too much trouble but she knew she couldn't do that this time.

She went out with her father to find a good office space and ended up finding a location in an old building in the center of town. Keith suggested that she get a newer office space but she liked the character of it. She liked the idea of fixing the place up and making it her own.

"What are you going to name your business? Veronica Echolls Private Investigator?" Keith laughed as they got back in her car heading back to his house.

"Funny, we're not exactly in that place right now," she said in a casual tone implying she didn't really want to get into it.

"Yeah I kind of figured that by you spending so much time at my house the last few days."

"Did you ever think I just wanted to have quality daddy time?"

"Uhm...no."

The next day Veronica had rented the office and started fixing it up. She and Mac were in sweatpants and t-shirts sweeping and dusting when a woman walked into the office.

"Are you Veronica Mars?" the woman in her sixties asked.

"Yeah, that's me," Veronica said putting down the broom and shaking the woman's hand.

"You're a private investigator?" she asked looking around.

"Yeah, I guess word gets around that I'm back in town, still working on getting my office together," she said putting out a folding chair for the woman and sitting on the old filing cabinet.

"My name is Bethanny Fraser and I'd like you to find my fiance," she says without urgency holding her pocketbook in her lap.

"When did you last see him?" Veronica asked as she grabbed a notepad and a pen to write down the details.

"25 years ago," she said matter-of-factly.

"Uh, 25 years ago?" she questions her.

"You see I ended things with my fiance, Robert Martin, 25 years ago. I loved him but I wasn't ready to settle down with him. We both moved on and the years went by but now that I'm divorced from the guy I ended up marrying years later I realize how much I've missed Robert all this time. I've tried looking him up where he used to live but he seems to have vanished off the face of the planet," she says with a hint of despair.

"Ok well, you'll need to give me all the information you can about him, even the things that don't seem important could be important," she said tearing off the piece of paper she wrote on and gave her the notebook and pen.

Veronica walked over to Mac on the other side of the room to give Mrs. Fraser some space.

"That's so sad," Mac said as Veronica sat on the window sil.

"Yeah..." Veronica replied.

"I can't imagine if I'd let go of Max and only realized when it was too late that he was the one I wanted all along."

"Yeah, that would suck," Veronica said pushing down her own feelings, as she did so often.

"You are such a romantic V," Mac said laughing at her and going back to cleaning.

That evening Veronica was alone in her still very unfinished office doing some researching and making some calls. She found some leads and would follow up on them the next day. She looked at her phone and there were no texts or messages. She knew if she reached out to Logan he'd be there but she didn't know what to say to him.

Then there was a knock on the door. She ran to the door, opened it to find Jordan there. He was the guy she'd had a brief relationship with before she'd come back to Neptune. He was sweet, sex and from New Zealand but she hadn't even thought of him since she'd seen Logan again.

"Hey lovely," he said pulling her into a hug and kissing her so strongly she couldn't pull away fast enough.

"Hi Jordan," she said pulling away from him with a smile, "what are you doing here?" she said trying to not sound too accusatory.

"I missed you and it took me a while to find you, you never left me much information in how to find you," he said not getting the hint and kissing her again.

"I thought that was the point, I thought we were just going to enjoy the time we had and leave it at that."

"I get the feeling you didn't miss me as much as I missed you."

"Jordan, you can't stay here, I've moved on," she said trying to let him down easy.

"You have another guy?" he asks walking into her office and looking around.

"Sort of, he's an old love," she said thinking of Logan touching his hand to her face.

"Where is he?" he asks.

"It's a long story," she admits.

"Well I'm staying at a nearby hotel, I want to see you tomorrow," he said heading back to the door.

"Fine, I'll meet you for lunch at the Lunchbox, at 12:30 ok?" she said closing the door on him before he could kiss her again.

"See you then!"

She went back to her desk, closed her computer and put her head down on the desk in frustration.

The next morning she went to her office early to do some cleaning, followed up on some leads and then ran off just in time to meet up with Jordan for lunch. He was waiting there for her having a milkshake and she had a milkshake waiting for her. She sat down across from him.

"I know how much you like vanilla milkshakes," she said leaning across to kiss her but she moved her face so he kissed her cheek.

"Thanks, so this really needs to end, I'm sorry you can all the way-" she said before being cut off by Jordan.

"Remember the time we took my boat up the coast of Karratha and made love in the moon light?" he said holding her hand and making her blush.

"Yes, I remember that, it's not something a girl forgets but..."

"What about the time we hiked up-"

"Marshmallow!" she heard across the room as Lucy came running up to her and jumped in her lap.

"Hey Lucy," she said hugging her and then looking up to see Logan taking in the situation.

"Hi Veronica," Logan said coming up to the table looking hurt.

"Hey Logan, this is my friend Jordan..." she said not sure what else to say.

"Hi Jordan," he said shaking his hand and then taking Lucy's hand, "we have to go Luce."

He gave Veronica one of his infamous looks, that said more than he could ever say in words and then walked out of the restaurant.

"I'll be right back," she said as she ran out to catch up with Logan.

"It's not what you think it is," she said standing in front of Logan.

"It's ok, I have to take Lucy home," he said not looking at her.

"But Logan..." she tried to stop him but he was walking away.

"I'll see you later," he said and she admitted defeat.

She went back into the restaurant to Jordan. She sat down across from him as he was checking his voicemail on his phone. She took a sip of her milkshake and looked at the handsome man across from her. She could just run off with him and leave all her complications behind but in reality just running away never solved anything, it just delayed the inevitable.

"Jordan, you have to go home. You're a great guy but I'm setting up shop here in town and not planning on going anywhere for a long time. I'm sorry you came all this way," she said putting some money on the table and taking another last sip of her milkshake.

"But you like to travel, you're staying in one place?" he asked confused.

"Yeah, I finally have a reason to stay put," she smiled, leaned over kissed him on the cheek and walked out. She felt bad leaving him there, since he'd come so far but she had a life she was trying to build here and he was only going to hold her back.

After a lot of calls and contacts she finally tracked down Robert Martin's daughter Karen. She was hard to find since she lived out of town and had changed her name to her married name years ago. Veronica decided to go in person so she took a drive out to her house. Veronica hoped she'd be there and be willing to give her information.

After she knocked on the door Karen answered "can I help you?"

"Hi I'm Veronica and I was wondering if I could speak to you about your father Robert Martin?"

"Uhm, ok," she said confused and let Veronica in. They sat at the kitchen table.

"So I've been looking for your father for this woman who was involved with him many years ago..." she paused.

"You mean Bethanny?" she asked.

"How, how do you know of her?" Veronica asked dumbfounded.

"He talked about her a lot and I think he tried to find her after he and my mother got divorced."

"Wow, where is he now?"

"He died 6 months ago, of cancer," Karen said with a quiet sadness.

"Oh," Veronica said sadly, "I'm so sorry."

"It's ok, he was in pain a long time and he is at peace now," she nodded to herself.

"Well, thank you for your help," Veronica said getting up to leave and Karen stopped her.

"I'd love to meet Bethanny if she wants to meet me, give her my information if she wants to," she said and they said good bye.

Veronica went to Bethanny's place and gave her the unfortunate news and she started to cry.

"I always thought we'd find each other again...I didn't think it was over yet..." and Veronica hugged her. She could feel the pain so intensely as if it was her own. As she stood back and looked at this older woman who felt so empty and alone, she could see herself in the future. At that moment she knew she had to do something, go all out.

Logan came home to find Mac on his front stairs. She stood up when he came up to her and she handed him a letter.

"This is for you," she said giving Logan the letter as Lucy ran inside the house to play with the new doll Logan bought for her.

"What is it?" he asked confused.

"Just read it you jerk," she said sitting back down as he read it.

Come to the beach, the spot where we had our first breakup. You know, the time I thought you were a murder? I know, good times. Anyway, just trust me, please. ~ V

"I can't, Lucy..."he said looking at Mac.

"I'm taking her to my house for the night, don't worry about her," she said as she motioned for Logan to leave, "you better go, Veronica doesn't like being stood up."

Logan drove to the spot Veronica asked him to. He was skeptical, he wasn't sure he wanted to deal with Veronica's bullshit anymore. He loved her so much it sometimes made him ill but he was pretty sure she didn't feel about him as he felt about her. What was the point? He'd always be hurt, again and again.

The sun was setting and the sky was purple and orange as he pulled up to the beach. He got out of the car and headed to the spot and Veronica was there waiting for him on a blanket surrounded by luminaria. Veronica was looking directly at Logan as he walked up to her.

"Hi Logan."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"What the hell are you doing?" Logan said confused standing in front of Veronica blanket on the beach surrounded by luminaria.

"I'm making my very first grand gesture," she said with her hands on her hips.

"What are you talking about? You've made tons of grand gestures."

"Never a romantic grand gesture," she said with a wink.

"Oh?" he said curious.

"It's occurred to me recently that I've never really put myself on the line for you but you've done it so many times," she started but Logan interrupted.

"Oh, ya think?" he smirked.

"Will you zip it? I'm trying to spill my soul here," she sighed with exaggeration and continued, "When I was little and imagined the guy that I'd fall in love with I never imagined someone like you. In fact I can honestly say you were pretty much the opposite of what I thought I wanted."

"When does this get romantic?" he asked crossing his arms.

Veronica just gave him a stern look.

"You are the most stubborn, arrogant, sweetest and sexiest guy I know. I hate that I have absolutely no control when it comes to you, you always do what you want to do. It drives me crazy because I'm someone who thrives on control. I guess it's a good thing for me, it's good to let someone take care of me once-and-a-while..." she paused looking away from his stare.

"You excite me and absolutely terrify me. You are the only person on the planet that makes me want to slow down and just enjoy the moment. When I'm with you everything else falls away, all the big cases and adventures. You're the adventure I really want..."

Veronica tears up and is holding it in so she doesn't burst into tears and Logan is in awe just staring at her in disbelief.

"I'm so sorry for all the times I've ran away and all the times I've thought the worst of you..."

"I wasn't always the easiest guy to deal with though," he added.

"But that's the thing, even when you were a pain in the ass you were there for me, always. If I needed you, you were there, always. You never really gave up on me, you never stopped loving me. You probably think that you have stronger feelings for me than I have for you but I wanted you to know, no matter what, that you couldn't be more wrong. You did to me what I never thought could be done. You tore down my walls. You should know...that I love you Logan."

At this point tears are running down her face and she looks up at Logan to see he has tears in his eyes too.

"Can I talk now?" he asks laughing a little trying to soften the moment.

"Sure," she says as he walks up to her. Standing right in front of her he touches his fingers to her face and wipes away some of her tears. She's trying to stop crying but she still doesn't know what he's going to say. She just put her heart on the line and he could tear it to pieces if he wanted to.

"I'm sorry I went off on you like I did because honestly I don't care how I have you in my life I just want you in my life," he then pulled her to him and kissed her. He wrapped his arms around her and she wrapped hers around him. She continued to cry into his shoulder.

"So you forgive me?" she asked wiping her nose on his shirt.

"Do you have to ask?" he replied as he pulled her down to the blanket. As he was leaning over her he added, "Do you know how long I've waited for you to say those three words to me?"

"What three words? I need ketchup? Where's my car? Tip the barrista?" she giggled.

"I love you," he said kissing her and they rolled so she was on top of him.

"I love you too," she sat up taking her shirt off and pulling off his shirt. She kissed down his bare chest as his hands cupped her butt. He unbuttoned her jeans as she unbuttoned his at the same time. As they rolled around on the blanket under the moonlight with the luminaria flickering all around them.

Later they lay there in each other's arms as the luminaria were dying.

"So what happens next?" Logan asked.

"You're a cabana boy and I'm a lonely heiress on vacation?" she said raising an eyebrow.

"I mean, you should move in with us," he said sitting up and pulling his jeans on as Veronica did the same.

"I'm in," she smiled and kissed him.

Suddenly there were flashlights on them and cops were approaching.

"We should probably leave now," she said as they scrambled to grab all their stuff and run to the car.

As he drove home, they decided to pick her car up in the morning, Veronica asked what he was going to do about Lucy.

"I thought we could tell her together. I promised myself I would wait like six months to introduce her to someone I was dating but I figure we're different. Plus, Lucy loves you," he reached his arm over and squeezed her hand.

"I do kind of rock," she mused.

The next day when Lucy came home they sat her down in the living room and explained to her that Veronica (or rather Marshmallow) was moving in. That was all the explaining she needed, she jumped for joy, literally. The next day she packed up a bunch of her stuff and moved in officially.

The three of them quickly found their own rhythm. In the mornings Logan always made the coffee and breakfast. He knew from way back that Veronica required coffee immediately after waking up or someone got hurt. Veronica made the bed and tidied up in the morning, after her coffee of course. They gave Lucy baths together most of the time and took turns reading her a story for bed. Eventually Lucy required Marshmallow to tell her a story every night because she made up adventure stories in detail.

On Sunday nights Logan, Veronica and Lucy went over to Keith's house for dinner. On Friday afternoons when Logan and Max are at work Veronica and Mac take all the kids to the park to play. Logan, Max and Keith sometimes got together to play cards, if you can believe that. Veronica's office was finished and she was steadily working. She didn't just take cases locally but all over California so sometimes she was gone for a few days.

Today Veronica was heading out on a case, she'd be gone overnight. She packed a quick bag, not too much stuff because she wanted to make sure Logan knew she was coming right back. Lucy was at school, Veronica said goodbye to her earlier that morning.

"Ok I'm packed, I'll be back soon," she said walking up to him as he leaned against the kitchen counter and kissed him quickly on the lips. He didn't let her go so quickly and pulled her to him.

"You better be," he said pulling her as close as he could and nuzzling her neck

"I'm already running late," she said giving in already, "why aren't you at work anyway?"

"I run the place remember? That means I can now goof off and still be responsible," he said his hands going up her shirt.

"Seriously," she giggled, "what if Lucy comes home?"

"She's at school, if she comes home that means she hitch hiked and I haven't taught her how to do that yet," he said.

"She's not hitch hiking until she gets her own stun gun," Veronica puts her arms around Logan's neck and kisses him. His hands grip her butt and lift her up onto the counter top. As they continue kissing they barely notice a bunch of plastic bowls being knocked to the floor.

Logan pulls her shirt off and starts unbuttoning her pants as Veronica unzips Logan's pants a she wraps her legs around him. He leans over her with his bare chest pressed up against hers and then licks from her shoulders down to her stomach. He continues on from there...

Veronica drove off down the street while buttoning up her shirt. Logan was definitely getting in the way of work but at the moment she didn't mind. She'd just grab a quick lunch on the way and put the pedal to the metal so she could get to the cafe by 5pm. She pulled up to the cafe at 5:13 and rushed through the door hoping she wasn't too late. She looked around furiously and it appeared her client was nowhere to be seen.

Incredibly frustrated she got herself a coffee and an egg sandwich and sat down to call her client to try to reschedule the appointment. Just as she sat down and took a huge bite of her sandwich someone sat down across from her. Veronica looked up.

"Hi Veronica," she said.

"Hi mom."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Mom? What are you doing here?" Veronica suddenly felt tense and uneasy. She hadn't seen her mom since she was in high school and only heard that she was doing ok from her father since he tried to keep an eye on her.

"I knew you wouldn't come see me unless I pretended to be a client," she said touching Veronica's hand but Veronica pulled it away.

"Why did you have me drive hours out here?" she asked skeptical.

"Well because I thought if you were far away from home you'd take the time to listen to me and because I actually need some help," she said looking down not able to look Veronica in the eyes.

"Mom, the last time I saw you, you were drinking again and you ran off with the money that could have helped dad and I have a better life!" Veronica said trying to take a bite of her sandwich but losing her appetite.

"I know, I was awful, I was in such a bad place for a really long time. I had to really hit rock bottom and I did end up getting help. I'm in AA now and am trying to get my life back on track," she said with years of pain and sadness in her eyes.

"I'm glad mom, really, I want you to get better but what happened that you need me here? Why couldn't you just hire someone locally?" she asked leaning back in her chair, crossing her arms and putting up her defenses.

"I don't trust easily but I trust you. I need your help because I really got my life together with a job an and apartment. I got a job as an admin in an office but I was fired because money was stolen from petty cash and I was blamed for it," she said anxiously.

Veronica just looked at her mother questionably.

"I know it doesn't look good, considering my past, but I promise you I didn't do it. You can ask my AA sponsor and my neighbors, I've changed, I'm not the same person I used to be."

"You can understand why I am having trouble with this right?"

"Yes, of course, but tell me this, are you the same person you were 10 years ago?" her mom asks her with a curious look on her face.

Her mom had her there, she couldn't ignore that. If she were the same person she was 10 years ago she'd probably be in some random hotel room by herself working on a case.

"Ok mom, I'll help you but I can't just let everything go, just so you know," Veronica said pulling out her notebook to take notes about the case.

"I wouldn't dream of it," her mom said with a soft understanding smile.

Veronica and her mother went to her mother's work and did some snooping. After that she was going to check into a hotel but her mother insisted that Veronica stay at her apartment. On the way to the apartment Veronica called Logan from her car.

"Hey, staying out of jail this time?" Logan answered the phone with.

"For now, I'll keep you posted."

"How's the case? Is it a complicated one?"

"Well, it's actually my mother," she sighed.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, in part she wanted to reconnect with me or something but also I'm helping her out with a situation."

"You okay?" he asked with concern in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm tough, I'm staying at her apartment though, she insisted. I'll let you know when I'm heading back home," she said wishing she could be looking into his eyes right now.

"Well if you need me, just let me know ok?" he said but she could hear he was aching to hold her at that moment.

"I'll be fine, give Luce a tickle for me ok?" she said as they hung up.

Veronica pulled up to her mom's apartment and walked in. The apartment building itself was on the shabby side but her mom had taken time to make her apartment very cozy and cheerful. She walked around looking at how she'd decorated and smelled some of the candles that were on the tables. Then she found a table full of pictures of Veronica.

There was a picture of Veronica when she graduated from high school and one from college. There were some shots from various Christimases with her father. There was a picture of her with her long past Backup and a group shot of her with Wallace, Mac and Logan. She walked over to the refrigerator to find a picture of her with Logan standing in front of their first apartment together. Logan was standing behind her and had his arms wrapped around, they both had huge smiles on their faces.

"I can't believe you have all these pictures," Veronica commented to her mom who just came back from the store across the street with a few groceries.

"Yeah, you're dad has been kind enough to send them to me over the years," she smiled and put the grocery bag on the counter.

"Why is this picture the one on your refrigerator?" she asked taking it off and looking at it fondly.

"When your dad sent me that picture it made me so incredibly happy because I could see you were really in love," she said with tears in her eyes.

"Really?" Veronica found herself choking up as well.

"Yeah, it just radiates from the picture. You have such a wall up so much of the time, I know most of that is my fault, but there I can see your wall is down," she took out a bottle of juice and poured each of them a glass, "You know Keith told me over the years about Logan and while I could tell he didn't really trust him I knew that this guy was just what you needed. He's clearly someone who will stand his ground with you and love you unconditionally," she wiped a tear from her cheek.

"I've hurt him a lot over the years," Veronica admitted sitting down on the sofa.

"I think you get that from me, the hurting the people we love because it scares us," her mom said sitting down next to her.

"But I would never walk away from my child," Veronica said harshly.

"Consider yourself lucky you have a lot fewer demons than I do," her mom tried to put her arm around Veronica but Veronica stood up quickly.

"I need to do some work on my laptop for a while, I'll be at a nearby cafe," she said as she grabbed her bag and headed out the door. Just as the door closed behind her she nearly broke down into tears but pulled herself together with a few deep breaths and went to her car.

While at the cafe Veronica got an email from an Earl Livingston about some missing jewelry he needed her help with resolving. She replied to the guy, who didn't leave a phone number, that she'd be in touch with him as soon as she could once she was finished with the case she was on at the moment. She asked him to send her any information he could so she could start the research immediately. He replied with very little helpful information, she assumed this would be one of the difficult clients but that happened more often than not.

A few minutes later her father called her and she answered ever so slightly annoyed.

"I didn't realize you'd been in contact with mom so much over the years," she said with a bite.

"Yeah, despite everything she'd done to us I couldn't not share what a wonderful person you'd grown into," he explained.

"The flattery won't work this time, I don't understand, if you wanted to share so much about me with her why didn't you try to get me to talk to her again," she said frustrated.

"Because I knew you weren't ready and I told your mom that when you were ready that you'd reach out to her."

"But she ended up contacting me!"

"Yeah, I guess she just needed you, you're an adult you can walk away if you want but she really has changed a lot Veronica. She's your mom, I think you should give her another chance."

"What if she disappears on me again?" she said getting emotional against her own will.

"She might but that's a part of life, giving people seconds and third chances if you love them or until you have no more chances left to give them. Humans do stupid things, it's part of being human," he said wisely.

"When did you become the Dalai Lama?"

"I can't ignore my calling dear," he said and they said goodbye.

A few days went by and Veronica finished up the case by proving it wasn't her mother who stole the money but the vice president actually. Her mother even got her job back and over the few days Veronica really did see her mother had changed so much. They had gotten closer and all that had gone wrong between them over the years had fallen away into the past.

"I wish you didn't have to leave, it's been so great having you around," her mother said as they stood at Veronica's car as she was about to leave.

"It has been great, I'm so glad you've gotten to such a good place mom. Maybe sometime you could visit Logan and I?" Veronica suggested.

"I'd love to, you have a great guy you know? He's brought out a wonderful peacefulness in you," she said touching Veronica's arm as if she wanted to remember everything about this moment before she left.

"Yeah, it took me a while to figure out how great he really was."

"You got that from me, fight against it, the trust issues will leave you alone in the end," she said as they hugged and Veronica headed back home.

Veronica really wanted to head back to the house, she missed Logan and Lucy, but she had to meet with the most recent client to try to get more information out of him so she could do her job. She emailed him to meet her at her office, the sun was setting and she was hoping she could get this over with so she could get back home before Lucy's bedtime.

After a very long drive, and leaving a text for Logan that she'd be home soon, she arrived at her office. She grabbed a latte from the coffee shop next door and headed upstairs to meet with Mr. Livingston. She noticed a glow coming from her office in the hallway and walked up to the door carefully holding onto her taser in her bag just in case.

As she opened the door she realized it was already unlocked so carefully she walked inside trying to make as little noise as possible. As she stepped inside her heart seemed to stop.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Standing in her office she was in awe. In the middle of the room there were 2 lawn chairs facing a screen up on the wall; it was setup like a movie theater. She then noticed Logan in the back of the room where there was a projector.

"What the?" Veronica said confused.

"Do you mind taking a seat? The show is about to start," he said

"Uh yeah, sure..." she sat down still trying to figure it all out, "I was supposed to meet a client here."

"Yeah, that was me. I thought you might have figured it out, being so clever and all," he said smirked turning on the projector so that there was a close up picture of Veronica and Logan on the screen.

"What is this?" she asked as he grabbed a bag of popcorn and sat in the chair next to her.

"It's us," he said offering her the bag of popcorn and she took a handful. He put his arm around her and they sat back to watch. Pictures of them in high school even back when they were enemies flashed in front of them along with pictures of when they were first together. The song Find A Way by Safetysuit played along with the pictures over the years. There was a picture of them when they were lying in bed together curled up in the blankets at the Neptune Grand and a picture Logan took of Veronica with a mustache drawn on her face when she was sleeping. Veronica whacked him for that while laughing at the same time.

There was a picture of Logan in his boxer briefs and a girly apron making breakfast in the apartment they had together. A picture of the two of them dressed in black for a case they were going to go on once. Also a picture of them reflected in a mirror Veronica holding up the engagement ring on her finger with Logan standing behind her. Then of course a picture of Logan and Veronica sitting on the sofa in their living room with Lucy sitting on Veronica's lap.

Then it ended on a picture of Logan kneeling behind Lucy who was holding up a piece of paper that said "will you marry me?" Veronica was shocked, the slideshow itself sent so many old emotions flooding through her but this too, it was almost too much to process. Logan stood up, pulled something out of his pants pocket and was about to get down on one knee.

"Stop!" Veronica yelled getting up and Logan stood back up straight wide-eyed not knowing where this was going.

"What?" and she could tell he was almost afraid to ask.

"You did this once and I didn't deserve it. I'm trying really hard to deserve it now but you shouldn't have to propose to me again, you already did that once and I fucked it up!" she said as Logan walked over to her.

"It's ok, I realize now back then you weren't ready, I don't blame you for freaking out," he said trying to hug her but she pulled away.

"Stop being so nice! It's my turn now, fuck!" she gets down on one knee, "Logan, will you-" but Logan cuts her off.

"You don't even have a ring, what are you doing?" he said standing over her holding out the ring box in his hand.

"I don't care, it's my turn this time," she said clearing her throat again, "Logan..."

But Logan then gets down to the floor with her, "with all the planning I did for this tonight maybe you can just shut up for once?" he said and they both just stared at each other for a moment refusing to give up the proposal. Then they started laughing.

"We really are a pair of morons aren't we?" Veronica said sitting down Indian style on the floor and Logan joined her.

"Nobody else could deal with either of us, it's pretty clear."

Veronica reached across to the floor next to Logan and took the ring box in her hand and looked at Logan.

"Logan, would you mind if I married you?" she asked with a smile.

"I'm ok with that," he said and leaned over to embrace her with a kiss.

"Just promise I don't have to have a big wedding with bridesmaids and swans and that stuff," she said touching his cheek with a smile.

"You haven't been to many weddings have you?" he asked as he took the ring out of the box and put it on her finger.

"I have managed to avoid most of them, it's not really my thing," she said looking at her ring, so glad to have it back on where it belonged. She was so glad that it was the same ring as before, she wouldn't want another one.

On the drive home Veronica kept looking at her ring like she'd never seen it before, like she hadn't looked at it over the years. Logan reached over to her and took her hand in his.

"I guess we should plan the wedding," he said with a smile.

"Just the idea of planning a wedding sounds like it's going to be big, you promised," she said weaving her fingers through his.

"I just mean the basics. Do we invite people? Do we elope? I'm assuming a church is out of the question."

"I'm thinking outside but I've never really thought about my own wedding, can we take our time and really think about this?"

"We'll just go on with our regular lives and when we figure out what we want and when we'll do that."

When they walked in the door at the house her dad, Alicia, and Patrick were all waiting for them. Lucy ran up and jumped into Logan's arms. Keith looked like he was going to cry as hugged Veronica and then hugged Logan as well.

"How did you know that I'd say yes?" Veronica asked her dad as everyone went to get some champagne.

"Because I know you. The first time I knew you weren't ready and told Logan that but he didn't listen to me. I think Logan wanted to believe I just didn't want you with him but that's not the case, not anymore. I think you guys didn't work very well when you were younger but I think now that you've both grown up a lot I can't imagine you with anyone else," Keith said putting his arm around her and started to tear up.

"I'm glad you and Logan found a way to get closer, he doesn't have much family," she said as Logan came over with a glass of champagne and they had one of their many private smiles to each other, "although I don't envy Logan having to have you as a father-in-law."

"Just don't put a tracking device on me, that's all I ask," Logan said giving Keith a glass of champagne.

"If you just fly straight, you have no worries, you know I'll do anything to protect Veronica," Keith said giving Logan a stern look.

"Same here, I'd die for her," Logan said kissing Veronica on her forehead.

"Veronica maybe you should just stay out of trouble so we can all take a break?" Keith suggested to Veronica.

"To Veronica staying out of trouble!" Logan said and everyone lifted their classes, "Cheers!"

Everyone sat around the living room laughing, drinking champagne and eating pie. As they laughed and talked someone was trying to yell over them from the hallway "HELLO!" Everyone stopped talking and looked up to see Trina standing there with a bunch of bags.

"Hi sis," Logan smiled with his usual sarcasm.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Don't look so happy to see me baby brother," Trina said after she dropped several large bags and a suitcase on the floor of the hallway.

"I'm thrilled," he said getting up and heading over to her, "what's it been, a decade?"

They share an awkward hug.

"It's been more like 3 years Logan," she said walking into the living room where everyone else was, "What are we celebrating?"

"Logan and Veronica are engaged," Alicia said as everyone wasn't sure quite what to say.

"Again?" Trina burst out laughing and Logan looked like he was going to go off on her so Veronica jumped off the sofa to intervene.

"Hey Trina, long time no see, can I get you a glass of champagne?" Veronica said putting an arm over her shoulder and leading her toward the kitchen. Logan proceeded to gulp down the rest of the champagne in his glass and went back to the family in the living room.

"So have you packed your bags yet?" Trina joked as Veronica was pouring the champagne.

"You know Trina...if you're trying to suck up to Logan you're going about it wrong," she said giving her the glass of champagne.

Trina took a sip, "what makes you guys think you can make it this time?"

"Do we ever really know? I just know this is what I want, I'm in for the long haul."

"How romantic," she said with a grumble and Veronica could see a flicker of pain in her eyes.

"So, how much do you need this time?" Logan asked as he came into the kitchen.

"None."

"That's new..." he remarked.

"I was hoping I could stay here for a while," she tried giving her innocent face but it was never very believable.

"What happened to...Marcus?" he said not even acknowledging her plea. When they were together it was like he was 16 again.

"It didn't work out," she said but Veronica could tell there was a lot more to it but Logan didn't seem to care.

"Yeah, you can stay here. I'll take your stuff up to the guest room but you can't have random people over like the old days."

Logan grabbed her bags and she hugged him with relief as he headed upstairs.

"Is everything ok Trina?" Veronica asked when Logan was gone.

"It doesn't matter now," she said with a yawn, "I'm going to sleep."

As she headed up to her room Logan came up to Veronica and pulled her into his arms.

"Something happened with Trina," Veronica confided to him.

"Something always happens to her," he rubbed her arm, "she contacts me all the time asking for money but she's almost never seen Lucy. She's all the family I have left and I'll always be there for her but we'll never be close."

Veronica could understand that because Trina was the way she was, there was no denying it.

After everyone left Veronica was getting ready for bed as Logan was already in bed on his laptop. He was either doing work or playing some computer game but she was just happy to see him there. Honestly, even if he was looking at porn she didn't really care. She walked across the room in her tank top and Logan's pajama bottoms. She took the hair clip out of her hair and crawled into bed on her hands and knees.

"Hi handsome," she said flirtatiously and he put his laptop on his nightstand.

"Hey there," he said pulling her to his side and cuddling up to her.

"Hey pumpkin?" he said sweetly.

"I know whenever you call me a cutsie nickname you are fishing for something," he said giving her a slap on her ass.

"I was just hoping you could give Trina a bit of a break while she stays here, I was thinking of having her help me with work a bit and with the wedding. I mean, she is going to be my sister-in-law so it's time for me to get to know her," she said nuzzling him at the same time.

"I guess, I have a lot of work to do anyway, just try to stay out of trouble with her ok?" he asked as he rolled on top of her and started kissing down her body as he pulled all her clothes off.

The next day after Veronica and Trina dropped Lucy off at school they went to a diner to get some breakfast. Veronica ordered a stack of pancakes, with hash browns, scrambled eggs and a side of bacon. Trina only ordered a bagel and cream cheese.

"How do you eat so much and stay so tiny?" Trina asked Veronica in aww when the watress brought over the feast.

As Veronica started to pour syrup over her pancakes and took a huge bite she replied, "shh, I'm really a Hobbit."

"So is Logan driving you completely crazy yet?" she asked as she started to put the tiniest amount of cream cheese on her bagel.

"Actually, he's not," she said swallowing the food in her mouth and taking a gulp of coffee, "I mean of course he can drive me a little nuts. He plays fantasy football," she rolls her eyes, "and getting him to watch a film of substance is like pulling nails. He goes to the gym all the time and sometimes he can shut me out."

"Sounds like Logan," Trina took a sip of coffee.

"But that's just him, it took me a long time to just accept who he was and love him for that. Honestly if he stopped doing some of those things I'd miss them because his little annoying habits were what I missed the most when we were apart. Trust me, I'm no walk in the park," she said digging back into her plate of food.

"Sounds romantic," she said laced with sarcasm.

"He's very romantic Trina, despite anything else or whatever we've been through, if there is one thing he's always been it's romantic," she can see that Trina is upset by the conversation but trying to hide it, "Have you been seeing anyone lately?"

"I was seeing this guy Jared, it was great at first, as it always is but it eventually just..." she drifted off and went back to drinking her coffee as if that was the end of the conversation.

"I'm sorry, are you ok?"

"I'm just pissed at myself for always picking loser boyfriends," she said holding back tears and composing herself again back to her tough self, "I lost..."

"What did you lose?" Veronica asked carefully.

"Everything," Trina said and Veronica could see she'd closed up and wasn't going to share anymore.

Trina helped Veronica with work for the day or as much as Trina could. She wasn't very helpful with filing or data entry but she was good with ideas and making phone calls. She was also a lot of help when they were out in town questioning people and getting answers. Every once and a while they even got along, when Trina wasn't mocking Veronica somehow.

Later they picked up Lucy from school and brought her home. In the breakfast nook Veronica set Lucy up with a coloring book and started to make her a sandwich for lunch.

"Hey, anyone want grilled cheese sandwiches?" Veronica asked the room in general.

"YEAH!" Lucy yelled with excitement and then went back to drawing. Trina was siting at the island in the kitchen watching Lucy.

"Do you want to have a kid of your own?" Trina asked casually.

"I'm not sure, I mean Lucy might just be all I need in the kid department," Veronica motioned toward Lucy with the spatula and Lucy giggled.

"Does Logan want another kid?"

"I...I don't actually know," Veronica admitted.

"That might be something you should figure out before you get married," she said with a hint of an attitude.

"What about you? Do you want to be a mother?"

Veronica went over to give Lucy her grilled cheese sandwich and a pickle, Lucy grabbed the sandwich and took a big bite right away.

"I-I'm not sure it's in the cards for me," she said acting like she was really focused on a magazine article.

"You didn't really answer the question," Veronica commented when she looked up and saw Trina wiping her eyes.

"I'm finished! Can I go play outside?" Lucy said jumping off her chair and running over to Veronica.

"First you have to finish your glass of milk," Veronica told her so Lucy ran back to the table and drank the milk down quickly and then ran to the back door, "Also, don't leave the back yard!"

"Ok!" she bellowed and ran off.

"You're really good at that," Trina told Veronica and left the room.

Veronica was cleaning up when she noticed Trina's cell phone kept beeping, like someone kept texting her. She kept trying to ignore it but a new text would pop up. In her usual fashion she went over and checked her phone.

The last 12 texts were from Marcus.

Where the fuck are you? Answer my calls!

Stop playing games, bring my car back!

You know I will eventually figure out where you are, I want the ring back too!

Oh shit, Veronica thought.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Trina! Can you come here?" Veronica yelled and Trina showed up a minute or so later.

"What?" she asked, "I'm doing my nails," as she blew on her colored fingernails.

"I just saw your phone, you need to tell me what is going on," she said crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"You really have no boundaries do you?" Trina said incensed.

"I find the boundaries just make my job so much harder."

"Who asked for your help?"

"You did, you just didn't come out and say it," Veronica said taking out a beer for herself and giving one to Trina.

"You think you can fix everyone but you can't," she said staring down at her drying nails.

"I know I can't, most people have to help themselves but every once and a while I like to help a little."

"You can't help me..."

Just then Logan came walking in to the room, nobody had heard him come home from work.

"What's going on?" he said walking over, giving Veronica a kiss and sitting down across from Trina.

"Trina got herself in trouble again, she stole a car, a ring and who knows what else from her boyfriend and fled, that's about all I've gotten so far," Veronica laid out.

"Seriously? Why do you do this shit? Hasn't it gotten old yet?" Logan said getting annoyed.

"Yeah," she said getting up holding back tears, "this shit has really gotten old."

With that she walked out of the room.

"I'm sorry we have to deal with her," Logan said pulling her to his lap and putting his arms around her.

Veronica stared off in the direction Trina just went and realized that there was a lot more going on with her than she realized. This went beyond just Trina fucking up, she was clearly in a lot of pain.

That night Veronica couldn't sleep, she sat in the bay window seat in their bedroom reading a book. She looked over at Logan asleep so soundly and felt at peace. Suddenly she saw someone moving in the backyard from the corner of her eye. She turned and saw that it was Trina, she was just standing outside looking into the moonlight with her arms wrapped around her body.

The next day Veronica assumed Trina would stay in bed all day but she came down to breakfast like everything was fine. She had a notebook and pen with her and far too much energy.

"So Veronica, I was thinking I'd help you plan your wedding," she said sitting down at the table as she starting putting eggs and bacon on her plate.

"What?" Veronica said mid-sip of her coffee.

"I know how busy you are with work and I figured I could help you plan everything, I have a lot of ideas," she said writing stuff down in her notebook.

"I'm going to be the flower girl!" Lucy piped in while eating her cereal.

"I was thinking you'd have flowers in your hair, what do you think?" Trina asked her.

"Yeah!" she said with excitement and then went right back to her Cheerios.

"I don't need to plan anything, I just want to keep it simple."

"Weddings are never simple, but maybe if I help it will be less stressful for you?"

"Ok, fine, but don't order anything or put anything into motion without asking us. Also I want to keep the guest list to no more than 25 people," she said finishing off her coffee and taking her mug and plate to the sink.

"You really are keeping it small aren't you?"

"Our families aren't very big anyway, there is no point in turning this into a circus."

"I setup an appointment to go dress shopping today," Trina mentioned while writing stuff down in her notebook.

"Fine," Veronica groaned, "but I'm bringing along Mac."

Mac sat there with a horrified look on her face with Trina next to her looking beyond excited. Veronica was was on a small platform in a Cinderella type of wedding gown in front of them looking a bit like a Barbie doll and not seemingly pleased about it.

"You look amazing V!" Trina said jumping up and down.

"Yeah, this isn't really me..." Veronica said pulling the heart shaped corset up as her boobs weren't exactly filling in the dress enough.

"We can get it taken in in the bust," the store owner said.

"That's not what I meant," Veronica said rolling her eyes and getting annoyed.

"Can we try something more simple?" Mac asked.

Veronica came back in a skin tight mermaid style dress and needed help getting up on the platform.

"It's so pretty! Also it seems to mostly fit your chest this time," Trina commented.

"Can we go simpler?" Veronica pleaded.

"Would you prefer a sheet or something?" the store owner snapped.

"I need to get back to work," Veronica said pulling off the dress and walking off into the dressing room to put her clothes back on.

Taking a break from work later on Veronica stopped by Logan's office with hamburgers for lunch. She couldn't help but notice the pretty administrative assistant of his gave her a bit of a dirty look when she showed up. As Veronica stood there in an uncomfortable silence Logan then opened the door to his office with a big smile.

"Hey beautiful!" he said pulling her to him and kissing her on her cheek.

"I brought burgers for lunch today," she said holding up the bag.

"Delicious," he said nuzzling her neck, pulling her into the room and closing the door behind him.

He pulled her in for a deep kiss and while tempted to give in Veronica pulled away "we need to eat lunch before it gets cold."

"I know I'm pretty warm right now..." he said still holding onto her hand.

Veronica let go of his hand and sat down on the couch taking out the lunch. She handed him his burger "eat."

"Yes ma'am," he said unwrapping his burger and taking a bite, "how was dress shopping?"

"It was a nightmare, why are wedding dresses so...sparkly?"

"You know I mentioned to Judy after the meeting today that you were looking at wedding dresses and that it wasn't exactly your thing. She suggested this place about 30 minutes away that she thought you might like," he said reaching over and wiping a bit of mustard from her cheek with his thumb.

"Maybe I'll check it out, unless you are ok with just getting married in our underwear..." she said with a smirk.

"I think you are thinking of our wedding night," he said taking a sip of water.

"Hey, is the door locked?" she asked as she put down her hamburger and straddled him.

"Yeah, what about your burger?" he said as she began kissing his neck.

"Oh just keep quiet and be pretty."

Later on Veronica was looking for the little shop Logan suggested when she saw it from across the street. The dress in the window was gorgeous and so simple, just the way she liked it. She walked into the store and luckily nobody bombarded her with dresses so she just browsed. The woman behind the counter who had streaks of bright blue in her hair told Veronica to let her know if she needed any help.

As she sifted through racks she pulled out a few that were really pretty but they didn't feel right. She stood there looking over them and then the girl behind the counter spoke up.

"We have this great Augusta Jones dress that just came in."

"It's not a princess dress is it?" Veronica asked.

"No, it's very basic but beautiful," she said and went out back and came back with a dress on her arm. She handed it to Veronica and directed her to the dressing room.

Veronica came out with the dress on and just stood there in shock. She never imagined she could feel like this, the dress was just exquisite and fit her like a glove. The only thing the dress needed was to be shortened but otherwise it was like it was meant for her.

"Yeah, I think that's it," the girl said with a smile.

"Yeah, it is," she said smiling with tears in her eyes.

She came running in the house with her dress "I found the dress Trina!" she said sounding like an actual bride, which was so weird. She ran into the kitchen and found Trina holding her cell phone and looking scared.

"Marcus is on his way here."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Veronica immediately called Logan to tell him what was going on and he left work right away to head home. She then called her father to ask him to pick up Lucy and keep her at his house for the time being. She went to look out the front window and it didn't appear he had showed up yet so Veronica grabbed Trina's arm and pulled her to the hallway.

"Ok, time is up, you need to tell me what is going on! This isn't funny anymore!" Veronica said with trying to keep it together.

"It was never funny Veronica," Trina said looking far too calm.

"Why is Marcus looking for you Trina?" Veronica said with zero patience left.

"I stole his car and I took the engagement ring he gave me with me, he's pissed. The thing is, I paid for the car too and he gave me the ring. I just needed to get away from him and I figured he owed me these things. I deserved them."

"You know, if you'd just left without these things he probably wouldn't be so angry and heading this way," Veronica said while pacing the hallway.

"I'm not so sure about that," Trina said solemnly.

Just then there was a bang on the front door and both Veronica and Trina jumped out of their skin.

"Trina! I know you're in there! Open the door!" he bellowed and Trina slowly walked toward the door.

"What are you doing?" Veronica asked her, frustrated by her actions.

"I need to deal with this myself," she said and then turned to the door, "Marcus, I don't want to see you, please leave me alone."

"I love you baby, we can fix what went wrong between us," he said trying to sound sweet but clearly still angry as ever.

Before Veronica could stop her she opened the door. Marcus was a tall guy but really thin. He had a goatee and a shaved buzz cut. He was wearing a band t-shirt and jeans. He didn't look as dangerous as she expected but she's been wrong about people many times. Right away Marcus grabbed her and hugged her and she hugged him back. Veronica was beyond irritated standing there, she didn't know what to do about this.

"So Trina, does this mean you are going back with him?" Veronica said rolling her eyes.

"I don't know..." Trina pulled back and Marcus looked angry again.

"Trini, you know how sorry I am about what happened and I won't let it happen again," he said trying to touch her arm but she pulled away with tears welling up in her eyes.

"Please...don't..." she said nearing full tears.

"What happened Trina?" Veronica asked concerned again.

"I accidentally pushed her down the stairs," he said not sounding all that sorry.

"How do you accidentally push someone down the stairs?" Veronica asked him incensed and he stormed over to her and shoved her up against the wall.

"What the fuck do you know?" he screamed at her.

"Let her go!" Trina said still trying not to cry.

"I'll let this bitch go once you agree to come home with me!" he said as Veronica tried to pull away but he was surprisingly strong.

Just then Logan stormed into the house, grabbed marcus by the throat and quickly pulled him off of Veronica. Marcus could barely breathe and Logan was as angry as she's ever seen him in a long time.

"What the fuck is going on here?" Logan asked looking around the room.

"He fucking pushed me down the stairs when I was 5 months pregnant and I lost the baby!" Trina screamed with such intensity Veronica felt a chill go up her spine.

"What?" Veronica replied in shock and then she went to calm Logan down so he didn't get himself in trouble.

"I was going to name her Stephanie..." Trina said breaking down in tears and collapsing to the floor.

Keith showed up just then with a few other police officers and they arrested Marcus. It was just in time because if they'd taken any longer Logan might have been in trouble as well. As Marcus was taken away Veronica got down to the floor with Trina and wrapped her in her arms as she continued to cry.

After they went to the police station to follow the procedure they were back at the house. Trina was in the window nook off the living room with a blanket wrapped around her. Veronica brought her a cup of tea and sat across from her.

"What is this?" Trina asked with a look.

"It's tea," Veronica told her and took a sip of her own mug of tea.

"Does it have vodka in it or something?"

"Nope but it's very soothing, just trust me," Veronica looked down, "So, you want to tell me what happened?"

Trina sighed but didn't seem annoyed as much as she just seemed to be tired, "Marcus was sweet at first, they always are. Then he started to push me around and eventually it got a lot worse. I kept thinking I should leave him but I loved all the stuff he bought me and that he took care of me. I figured I could handle what he did but then I got pregnant. I kept thinking that I should leave to protect the baby but I was such a wimp. I didn't want to do it on my own. I didn't want to have to work my ass off and raise a child. I thought he'd get better but he didn't, he got worse. Even while pregnant he pushed me around a lot and I tried to protect her as much as I could," she touched her stomach where it was now flat, "Then we got into a fight and he pushed me down the stairs. It was on purpose. I knew right away I'd lost her and I know that I could have saved her if I was a stronger person. So I finally left and came here because I didn't know what else to do..." she trailed off and started to tear up again.

Veronica touched her leg gently "we all make mistakes, blaming yourself isn't going to change anything."

Trina lifted her head up and her eyes were full of tears.

"If you want to make it right just try to live your life in memory of Stephanie. Make positive changes and stop taking the easy way out. Push yourself and try to figure out who you really are. Because you Trina, you're so much more than who you've been," Veronica smiled softly.

"I was...I was thinking of actually taking some business classes or something. Maybe I...I could become a party planner or something. I don't know..." she said with a tone of hopefulness.

"I think you'd be great."

"This tea is alright," she said and they both smiled.

A while after Logan and Trina went upstairs to bed Veronica cleaned up a little and got some work done. When she finally made her way into the bedroom she noticed that Logan was still up. He was sitting in the window lost in thought. Veronica sat down next to him and laid her head in his lap. He ran his fingers through her hair like he always does and sighed.

"What's up boo?" she asked curling up and getting comfortable.

"When did you start calling me boo?" he asked.

"I was just testing it out. What about sweet cheeks?" she asked in her way of trying to get him to talk, which is usually what she did and as usual it worked.

"All I want to do is to protect the people I love and today you could have been really hurt. It kills me not to be able to keep you guys safe," he said sounding really scared.

"We can only do the best we can do. Life is messy and uncertain, we just have to find a way to enjoy every day and everyone as much as we can. Never let a moment go by without making sure that the people you love know you love them."

Logan sat up and pulled Veronica into his arms and hugged her so tight she lost her breath a little. She could feel his heart beating really fast against her chest. As he wanted to protect her from harm she wanted to protect him from pain and neither of them could do that. Sometimes you just have to let go and let live.

Veronica pulled back from Logan and held his face in her hands.

"I love you so much Logan. I don't know how I've lived so much of my life without you. I feel so safe and protected with you and you know how much I hate to be taken care of. I love you so much I want to give up my need for control and my obsessive need to be independent. If I can let go, you can let go," she said as she noticed a tear in his eye.

"I can't imagine my life without you. I've spent so much of my life so unbelievably unhappy and I'm so happy now with you, Lucy and even having Trina around is better than I thought it would be. I'm so afraid I'm going to lose everything," he said and kissed her and she felt all the different emotions he was feeling at that moment. He continued to kiss her and with the moonlight streaming through the big bay window it softened the moment as if it could last forever.

"I love you too, more than I could ever tell you," she said and proceeded to kiss him all over his face and he started laughing.

"Let's go now," he said as his face lit up.

"Go where?" she said aching to kiss him more.

"Let's go get married."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The next day they told Trina that Veronica had a job she had to head to Ireland for briefly and that Lucy was going with them. They were going to be gone for a few days and Trina said not to worry about her, that she had caught up with an old friend from high school and that she would keep her company. They packed their bags and headed off that morning to catch the next flight.

Sitting in their seats on the plane Lucy kept herself busy drawing in a coloring book and Veronica was doing work as always.

"Hey, let's not do work for this trip ok?" Logan suggested and Veronica ok'ed him but continued to work, "Hey, we're on our way to get married, let's enjoy the trip to it's fullest babycakes."

"Babycakes?" she looked up at him. He smiled and shut her laptop.

"We'd talked about a bunch of locations to get married and with the last minute decision why did you want to go to Ireland?" he asked taking a sip from his whiskey that he got to calm his nerves as he wasn't completely comfortable with flying.

Veronica leaned her head back and sighed with a smile, "because when I was little my mom used to make up stories when she would put me to bed. The stories would be from all over the world because she always wanted to travel but never could. My favorite was this story she told me of this red headed girl who lived in Ireland and slayed dragons. Whenever she described the rolling green hills and the cliffs I felt like I was there. I promised myself I would go there one day."

"Why haven't you gone yet? You've traveled more than anyone I know," he asked.

"I don't know...I guess I wanted it to be special," she said and kissed him.

"Good, I'm glad this will be all ours."

Many hours and a nice long nap later they are driving through the countryside toward the place they are staying, which Logan refused to give details about. The only thing he told her was that they were going to be staying in Galway. Lucy was still pretty tired because of the jet lag so she was asleep in the back seat. Veronica was leaning back in her seat watching the scenery as music like Snow Patrol and Damien Rice played.

Veronica had drifted off and woke up just as they pulled up to a cottage. She yawned and then go out of the car to follow Logan. Veronica's only requests for where they stayed was she didn't want anything really extravagant and it had to be near the water, the place here was perfect. It was a stucco cottage looking over the water. She took a deep breath and took in the fresh air around her. She then ran full speed over to where Logan was and jumped up on his back. He laughed as he carried her over to the house.

The place had beautiful hardwood floors and skylights. There was a sliding door from the master bedroom that opened up to the view of the ocean.

"I'm not sure I can ever leave here..." she said wistfully.

"So I did good?" he asked wrapping his arms around her from behind and resting his head on her shoulder.

"You did good."

Logan carried Lucy in and put her to bed in her bedroom and then they brought all of their bags in so they could get settled. Logan then went to the kitchen to start making some lunch for Lucy when she woke up.

"So when is the big day? How is it all going down?" Veronica asked handing Logan the lettuce make salad.

"You know this isn't a sting operation right?" he laughed.

"Well it kind of is, we're doing this in secret," she said taking out tomatoes and peppers from the refrigerator.

"Are you sure you don't want to do this with our family? We can always just take this as a vacation and go back to get married."

"No, this place feels right and if we went back home to get married something would get in the way of it happening...as something always happens."

"Ok...if you're sure..." Logan said not completely believing her.

"It does though feel weird not to have my dad walk me down the aisle but this is for the best," she said not looking up and focusing on cutting the tomatoes.

"I was thinking we could relax here for 5 days or so and then on the weekend get married," he said ripping up the lettuce to put in the salad bowl.

"Where are we getting married?" she asked casually as if it's no big deal.

"You know I'm not telling you," he says pulling her hand so she was right next to him and starts to kiss her. She puts her arms over his shoulders as his hands go straight to her butt. Just then Lucy comes out of her room yawning and dazed.

"Yuck!" she squeals and they start laughing as Lucy jumps up on the stool by the island in the kitchen, "stop being gross all the time."

"You're just being grouchy Loo," Logan says to her as he lets go of Veronica and goes back to the lettuce.

"I'm not grouchy, I'm hungry!" she complains and then pouts.

"It'll take her some time to adjust to the jet lag," Logan says to Veronica.

"I'm hungry too," Veronica says to Lucy, "How does salad and tuna fish sandwiches sound?"

"Ok..." Lucy grumbles and yawns again.

Later that evening Veronica found Logan outside watching the sunset. She brought him a beer and sat down next to him.

"Where is Lucy?" he asked her as he took the beer.

"She's playing with her barbies in the living room," she said as she leaned back in the chair, "hey Logan."

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we'd be where we are right now if Lilly hadn't died?" she took a swig of her beer and continued to watch the sunset.

"That's a crazy question, everything would have been different if she had lived."

"Do you think you would still be with her?"

"Lilly and I were never right for each other. I loved her but more in an infatuation/high school kind of way. If she'd lived she probably would have ran off to explore the world at some point and left us all behind," he says and Veronica can tell he's imagining just that.

"Do you think she would be ok with us being together?"

He was quiet for a little while as he was lost in thought and Veronica was about to ask him again when he answered "I think in her own way she saw it coming a mile away."

Logan then got up and went to go put Lucy to bed. About a half hour later he returned and found Veronica had wandered off away from the cottage closer to the water watching the sky turn into purple and orange. She was wearing white flowy pajama bottoms and a tank top. Her hair was blowing in the wind and she looked completely at peace. He grabbed a blanket from the cottage, walked up to her and wrapped it around her as he pulled her into his arms. For a while they both watched the scenery in front of them.

"I have been to so many amazing places and seen a thousand sunsets but nothing has ever felt like this," she said not even turning around to look at him.

"It doesn't even feel real," he said as he started to kiss down her neck and she felt goosebumps over her entire body. The blanket fell to the ground and he pulled the strap of her tank top down and kissed from her neck down to her shoulder. Veronica moaned and tried to turn around but he wouldn't let her. He then pulled off her tank top off over her head and threw it to the ground.

"But we're out in the open..." she said as a shiver went up her body.

"Nobody is around, the closest house is miles away," he said running his hands down down her hips to her pajama bottoms.

"What about Lilly," she asked trying to turn around again but he wouldn't let her.

"She passed out cold and she always sleeps through the night," he said untying her pajama bottoms and then whispered, "now shut up."

She forced herself to let go into this moment and stop trying to control everything. Suddenly her pants dropped to her feet and he kissed from the middle of her back down her spine, past her hips and slowly down her leg. He stood up behind her admiring her naked body in the moonlight.

Veronica could feel his breath on her shoulders as he took his clothes off and suddenly the warmth of his body was against her with the cool air all around them. Again she tried to respond to him but he wouldn't let her, instead he came around so he was standing in front of her and she looked up into his eyes. She'd never imagined she could feel so much in one moment and she could barely stand waiting to fall into him. She ached with so much pain and joy that she couldn't contain it anymore. Her entire body was shaking uncontrollably as he kneeled down to, taking the pleasure to a new level. She felt her knees getting week and just as she was about crumble he pulled her down to the ground.

Laying on a blanket with the full moon making her skin glow Logan went back to kissing up and down her body as she twitched and squirmed in unbelievably ecstasy. His body on top of her, pressed up against hers he kissed her passionately and moved to her kneck again she bit out the words "can you please just fuck me before I have a stroke."

He laughed "Ok...wimp."

Days went by as they traveled all over the area taking in every inch of the green landscape around them. There were mountains, fields, lakes and enormous cliffs. The shades of green never ceased to amaze Veronica at every moment. Lucy loved to run to hearts content over the rolling hills and begged them to buy her a sheep.

Veronica had gone off to try to call her father on her cell phone but he hadn't answered. She came back to Logan and Lucy petting a cow.

"How's your dad?" Logan asked.

"He didn't answer," she said starting to regret doing this whole wedding this without her, he'd be crushed.

"I'm sure he'll call you back later," he said as they headed back to the car, "you ready to get married tonight?"

"I can't believe it's already here, the week went by so fast," she said closing the door and putting on her seatbelt.

"You aren't regretting it or anything?" he said touching her hand that rested on her lap.

"No, not at all, I can't wait," she smiled at him and then turned to watch the scenery out her window as they drove back to the cottage.

Back at the cottage Veronica had finished doing her hair and walked across the room toward her wedding gown hanging up. She ran her fingers down the dress and took in her last moment of just being Veronica against the world. After today she'd officially be a family and had to learn to trust and let go more often.

Logan and Lucy had already dressed on their own and headed off somewhere to meet up with her at this mysterious location. The car that Logan had requested to pick her up had just arrived outside. She took the dress off the hanger and slipped it on. She put on a pair of white flip flops (she wasn't the heels kind of girl) and quickly dabbed on a bit of makeup. She grabbed her trusty bag (yes, even today she had her stun gun because you never know) and she headed out to the car.

The drive took about twenty minutes and she felt herself tearing up that she'd done this without her father. She thought about Mac, Trina, Alicia and Patrick. She thought about everyone she loved and said sorry out loud to them for doing this without them. Suddenly the car pulled to a stop and she saw a woodsy area in front of her and what looked like an abandoned church. She got out of the car, not sure what she was supposed to do next since she wasn't supposed to see Logan until she got to the aisle.

She noticed that the abandoned church appeared to be glowing and she could hear faint voices. She could see a figure walking toward her and then heard a voice "hi honey." The figure came into view and her heart swelled. She started jumping up and down, squealing. She lifted her dress off the ground and ran toward him at full speed; she jumped into his arms "daddy!"

Follow updates and more information via Tumblr tag "reunion fanfiction."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

"I can't believe you are here," Veronica said hugging her dad again, "what's going on?"

"Logan called a few days ago and got us tickets to be here, he knew that deep down you couldn't do this without your family," he said brushing some of her hair out of her face.

"Us, who else is here?" she asked in amazement.

"No more talking, I need to walk my daughter down the aisle," he smiles at her and takes her hand as they walk toward the church.

As she walks up to this ancient church where the walls are crumbling, the roof is gone and it's completely overgrown by plants and moss. She notices that there are hundreds of candles all throughout the church. As she walks up to the doorway she can see that everyone she secretly wanted to be here is here. Alicia, Patrick, Mac, Trina, her mother and even Dick were standing along the walls of the church smiling. If you can believe it Wallace was the Justice of the Peace.

Seeing everyone and how beautiful the location was her eyes started to well up again. Then she noticed Logan at the other end of the church and he caught her eyes at the same time. He was wearing a dark grey suit and a dress shirt with the collar unbuttoned, which suited him perfectly because Logan hated ties with a fury.

Just then she heard a violins playing and her dad looked at her, "you sure about this honey?"

Veronica looked him in the eyes trying to hold back her tears, "I've never been more ready for anything in my life daddy."

They started walking down the aisle, though there really wasn't an actual aisle, and Veronica locked eyes with Logan. She could see he was even more emotional than she was as he was already wiping his eyes. A couple feet from him was Lucy in an off-white dress with lace with a crown of flowers in her hair. She had the biggest smile on her face and was jumping up and down unable to control her excitement.

As she slowly walked toward Logan she thought about the years she knew him when they were friends and the time when they were enemies. She thought about when they fell in love and the times when they couldn't be together. She thought about all the times he saved her life and all the moments he was there even when she didn't want him there. She imagined waking up next to him for the rest of her life and growing old with him.

Her dad then kissed her on the cheek and leaned over to Logan "this doesn't mean I'm not still keeping an eye on you Logan."

Logan smiled because it was nice to know things wouldn't change too much "I wouldn't expect anything less Mr. Mars."

Keith walked over to Logan and gave him a hug, Logan was obviously not expecting this, "call me dad ok?"

Keith walked over to the side to stand with Alicia and Patrick trying to make it look like he wasn't tearing up. Veronica turned to Logan and wiped a tear from his face. They both laughed and he whispered "well I definitely didn't expect that." They then took each other's hands and waited for Wallace to begin.

Wallace talked a bit of love and commitment (including a few jabs at the couple in just his style) and then told everyone that they would be doing their own vows. Veronica leaned into Logan and said quietly "I didn't write anything."

He replied, "neither did I, I figure we've made up everything up until now as we go that we might as well do the same with our vows."

Logan went first:

"Veronica, I think I fell in love with you the first time I saw you in your soccer uniform. It wasn't an adult kind of love but I just had this feeling that you were the person I had to end up with at the end. I remember watching you laugh and talk really loudly with your friends. I couldn't take my eyes off of you. I haven't been able to take my eyes off you since and the rest of my life I will try my best to be everything you deserve. You are the love of my life Veronica."

Logan had tears falling down his cheeks by the end of his vows and Veronica was choking up. She squeezed his hand as he got emotional and made a goofy face to try to help him through.

Next was Veronica's turn:

"Logan, I can't say I loved you the moment I met you," everyone laughed and Logan smiled still wiping his eyes, "I know that for a long time you really irritated me and then suddenly one day you became everything to me. Suddenly one day I was in love with you and I couldn't get you out of my head even when I was on the other side of the world. I've always had to be independent but when I'm with you I want to let you protect me. You have grown into this man I always knew you could be and you amaze me every single day. With all the chaos of the world, you are my safe place. You are...my world Logan."

Wallace continued "you may kiss the bride."

Veronica jumped into Logan's arms and kissed him with everything she had. Logan pulled her into his arms as tight as he could and Wallace announced "everyone please welcome Mr. and Mrs. Echolls!"

Veronica turned to Logan with one eyebrow raised, "Ok, now that's weird to hear."

Logan laughed, took her hand and walked out to their family and friends. Lucy was dancing around like a princess and then Logan lifted her up into her arms. Standing there with her husband Logan and her daughter Lucy, she felt like things couldn't be more perfect, which made her nervous. Everyone came up and hugged them and they headed off to a local pub to celebrate.

Logan and Veronica stopped at the cottage quickly to put Lucy to bed, Alicia agreed to come by and stay with her for the night since she had to put Patrick to bed. Logan had checked a few messages and walked into Lucy's room to find Lucy fast asleep with Veronica curled up next to her still in her full wedding attire. Lucy had her head tucked into Veronica's chest and Veronica appeared to be asleep. Logan smiled to himself as he leaned over to kiss Lucy on the forehead. He then leaned over to kiss Veronica on the forehead but she woke up.

"Sorry, drifted off a little there," she said rubbing her eyes and adjusting her dress that was falling down.

"We don't have to go you know," he said helping her up off the bed trying not to wake up Lucy.

"No I'm good," she said jumping up and down trying to get her blood flowing again.

"Hey," he said putting his hands on her shoulders to get her to stop jumping, "thank you."

"For what?" she said still adjusting her dress.

He tilted her chin up so she was looking in his eyes, "for giving me the family I've wished for, for so many years."

"Awww," she said making a face and kissed him, "you'll take that back once my dad starts telling you how to grill."

"With everything that happened with my dad, to losing my mom and never really having much of any other family I never really thought it would happen for me. When I had Lucy it filled a part of me I didn't even realize was missing but I still felt like there was this empty part of me that I couldn't seem to fill until you came back. You and Lucy, you guys are my family and I can't tell you how unbelievable that is," he said softly touching her cheek.

"Well because of you I've found a way to let go and trust so we're even ok?" she said hugging him really tightly as they headed off to the car just as Alicia showed up with Patrick.

When they got to the door of the pub they could hear the music blaring already and loud voices. When Logan and Veronica walked in everyone turned and cheered. They were both hustled into the room and given beers. Mac dragged Veronica off to a corner of the room.

"So first I want to thank you for not requiring me to put on a bridesmaid dress. I will be forever indebted to you for that," she said clinking glasses with Veronica.

"I'm still so in shock by everything, I expected such a small quiet wedding but I'm so glad everyone is here," Veronica said taking a seat.

"So what are your next plans?"

"I'm not sure, I am not planning to travel for a while."

"Maybe we can talk about teaming up together?" Mac says with a smirk.

"Maybe..." Veronica give her a quizzical look, "but Logan and I promised no work today at all."

"So shall I start giving you marriage tips now?"

"Marriage tips?" Veronica asked intrigued.

"Don't leave your clothes on the floor, it ruins the mystery," she says finishing off her beer.

"Ok Dear Abby, I'm going to mingle a bit, I'll be back later."

Veronica wandered over to Wallace and noticed Logan laughing with Dick and it reminded her so much of the old days. She had to admit though, even Dick had grown up a lot but he was still Dick.

"Hey brotha!" Veronica said as she put her arm around Wallace.

"You have to stop doing that, I'm losing all of my cred," he said with a laugh.

"You say that like you had any cred to begin with," she sticks her tongue out at him.

A little later Veronica notices her mother standing outside alone so she goes outside to see her.

"Hey mom," she says bringing her a drink.

"Oh hey," her mom looks at the drink and seems confused.

"It's ginger ale," she smiles and her mom takes it from her and takes a sip.

"I've never seen you so happy honey and it fills my heart up to the brim," she says barely containing her joy.

"I am happy and I'm so glad you could be here," she said as they hug.

Keith walked over "can I have this dance?"

They went inside the pub and the song Daughter by John Mayer was on.

"I'd tell you how much you've grown up but you have been a grown up for as long as I can remember," he said as they started to dance and everyone watched.

"I'm only as grown up as I need to be in any given situation, which is what you always taught me," she said as she saw that Logan had taken Trina onto the dance floor.

"I think I've been in denial about you and Logan for a long time. I've always seen how you look at him but I told myself it was young love and that it would fade in time. I think I was so afraid of you being with him not because he's kind of a bad boy," in which Veronica laughed.

"I think I knew that once you really let yourself love him I would lose you as my little girl and I didn't know how to do that."

Veronica tried to interrupt him as tears filled up her eyes but he wouldn't let her.

"But Logan is a good guy and the only person who loves you almost as much as I do is Logan. I know he'll take care of you and keep you safe. I know he'll love you in the way you've always deserved," he said barely containing the tears rolling down his cheeks.

"I'm always going to be your little girl daddy," she said crying, "I loved you first."

"I'm so proud of you," he said wiping away the tears and helping her to stop crying.

The music then changed and Logan asked if he could interrupt. The song Love You Till The End by Bish played as Logan and Veronica had their first dance.

I just want to be there

When we're caught in the rain

I just want to see you laugh not cry

I just want to feel you

When the night puts on its cloak

I'm lost for words don't tell me

All I can say

I love you 'till the end

"When I think back to how we were in college I can't even believe it sometimes," he said with his hand on her lower back and his other hand holding hers as they danced.

"I don't know why I fought you so much and pushed you away all the time. I guess, it was just too intense for me. With you I feel like I have no control..." she said resting her head on his shoulder.

"We were a bunch of drama queens."

"Speak for yourself," she said and he picked her up off the ground and spun her around.

"I can't believe we're married, I never thought we'd get here," he said kissing her forehead.

"I feel all grown up and shit, just tell me we can go back to normal when we get home? I love everything you've done but I miss our life, just being us," she said putting her head back on his shoulder.

"Well I have to go back to work soon and I know you do too but you know we'll never be normal."

The party slowed down and at the end it was just Logan and Veronica. They drove home and headed right to the bedroom exhausted. They peeled off their clothes and fell into bed.

"I should go check on Loo," Logan groaned and climbed out of bed. He pulled on pajama bottoms and left the room.

Veronica laid on the bed on and found herself looking right at her ring finger. She turned her wedding band around on her finger and waited to feel a panic of being trapped or suffocated but she didn't feel that at all. It was amazing but she felt more free than she'd ever felt before. Just then, she drifted off to sleep.

Days later they were home and Veronica was already on a phone call with a client. She told Logan she would be in when she was done and he said he would bring the bags in. Lucy ran off to the backyard to play and Logan headed in through the front door. As Logan opened the front door he looked back and caught Veronica's eyes just as she finished her phone call. He smiled at her and then there was a gunshot.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Veronica dropped everything on the ground and ran full speed up to the porch where Logan lay bleeding everywhere.

"Help!" she screamed as she tried to stop the bleeding.

She looked up to see someone running out to escape through the back of the house. Veronica then found Logan's phone and called 911.

"Logan..." she said crying taking off her hoodie and putting it on his wound trying to stop the bleeding, "please please Logan, don't die, you can't..."

"Take care of Lucy for me ok?" he said trying to breathe.

"Shut up! You're going to be fine!"

A few minutes later the ambulance showed up and took off with Logan to the emergency room. Veronica put Lucy in the car and followed behind them. Luckily Lucy was so caught up in playing make-believe that she missed everything that happened. On the way to the hospital she dropped Lucy off at her dad's place and rushed to the hospital.

After some freaking out at the front desk they still wouldn't let her see Logan so she paced back and forth. Suddenly someone touched her shoulder and she turned around to see it was her dad. She immediately fell into her father's arms and started sobbing. She didn't care what anyone thought or if she was making a scene. At this moment her heart felt like it was being squeezed so tightly and she couldn't breathe.

"He's going to be ok honey," he said hugging her as tightly as he could.

"I—I can't live without him, I can't—" she said between sobs and desperately wanting her father to just fix everything like he'd done so many times in her past. She wanted so much to be a little girl again, when life wasn't so fucking hard.

"Have you talked to anyone here yet?" he asked gently.

"No," she sniffed, "nobody will tell me anything and I even threatened to use my taser on them…" she said wiping her face with her dad's jacket.

"I'll talk to them, you go sit down."

"But…"

"Sit down," he said firmly and she sat down in the waiting room.

She watched her dad show his badge and question the nurse at the front desk. It was obvious that she claimed not to know anything but he pushed until she started looking something up on the computer. Finally her dad came over to her.

"Logan is in surgery and that was all they could tell me but they promised they would have the doctor come out to talk to us the minute Logan is out of surgery," he said with his arm over her shoulder.

In what seemed like hours a doctor by the name of Dr. Garth finally approached them. He explained that Logan did well in surgery and that they stopped the bleeding. He was stable at the moment but he needed blood. Unfortunately he had a blood type that was rare and that he would need a family member to give him blood. Tears started streaming down Veronica's face again.

"Logan doesn't have much family but I'll call his sister and bring his daughter in to get tested," she said unable to get her brain to function enough to open her phone.

"I'll make the calls, can she go in to see him?" her dad asked Dr. Garth.

"Yes, he's still asleep but I'll bring you in to see him."

As she stepped through the door she was immediately drawn to the sun pouring through the window and how the room was glowing. She took a deep breath as she looked at Logan sleeping in the bed with tubes everywhere. He looked about as close to an angel as he'd probably ever look. She walked over to him slowly, afraid if she moved too quickly she'd disrupt the scene and everything was so calm at the moment.

She sat down in a chair next to his bed and touched her hand to his arm. He was warm and she could still feel life inside of him. Dr. Garth was at the door and she hesitantly left Logan to go speak to the doctor.

"Mrs. Echolls, I found your daughter Lucy's file and I'm sorry to say she does not have the same blood type.

"Oh…" she said looking back at Logan as her eyes were welling up again.

"You said his sister is coming in to get tested but you might want a backup plan just in case, the more options the better," he said as he patted her on the arm and headed off down the hallway.

Veronica walked back over to Logan and just stood there taking him in for a moment. She then closed her eyes and let herself cry a little. Just then she heard "I promised myself I would never be the reason you cried."

She opened her eyes to see Logan looking at her with a soft smile.

"Oh I've cried because of you before, just never with you around," she said wiping her eyes.

"Really? Damn, well this will be the last time ok?"

"Ok…" she said holding his hand.

"So what's going on?"

"You really should just rest right now,"

Luckily he was still really tired and ended up falling asleep again. She sat down next to him and rested her head on his arm.

She was woken up by Trina coming in the room, Veronica must have fallen asleep for a little while. She rubbed her eyes and went over to hug Trina.

"I'm not a match," she said starting to cry and hugged Veronica tighter, "Logan has helped me so many times in my life and I wanted to be the one to help him for once."

"It's ok," she said trying to be calm, "I have an idea."

Veronica walked out to the garden in the back of the hospital to get some privacy. Trina was bringing Lucy in to see her dad at the moment and she didn't want to overwhelm the situation. She turned on her phone, looked up a number and then dialed it. While listening to it ring she sat paced in the walkway by some beautiful flowers. She thought to herself how beautiful the day was for such a horrible situation.

A guy answered the phone "hello?"

"Charlie Stone?" she said taking a deep breath trying to stay calm, crying on the phone wasn't going to help anything.

"Yeah?" she said curiously.

"My name is Veronica Mars, I need to speak to you about a case I'm investigating, are you free right now?"

She walked over to the nearby park when she got off the phone and waited for Charlie. He showed up 10 minutes later in a dress shirt and slacks, he looked like he came from work, he sat down next to her.

"What is this investigation about? I'm on my lunch break," he said obviously in a rush but really trusting; obviously he didn't have trust issues like his brother.

"Actually, I lied, this isn't about an investigation. My maiden name is Mars but my married name is Echolls," she said as he tried to get up to leave, "I know you want nothing to do with Logan, I can't blame you for not wanting to get pulled into the Echolls drama again."

"I'm a really private person, I made it clear the last time that I don't want to be part of his world," he said about to leave.

"Please sit down, this is different," she said and he agreed, "Logan was shot and he needs blood. He has a really rare type and his stepsister and daughter aren't a match. I'm not asking you to come to family dinners or go camping with us, just get your blood tested. I know you don't want to know your brother but I don't think you want to not help him when he could…" she started choking up again, "…die."

She was able to convince Charlie to come to the hospital to get tested. He called work and was able to get the afternoon off. When they got to the hospital she brought him to a nurse who took him to get his blood tested. Veronica rushed back to Logan and found Trina sitting with him as he slept.

"Where is Lucy?" she asked immediately sitting in a chair next to Logan and taking his hand again just needing to touch him.

"I brought her in, she seemed a little nervous about whatever is going on but Logan woke up long enough to calm her down. She's in the waiting room with Patrick and Alicia coloring in coloring books," she said getting up and grabbing her bag.

"I found Charlie Stone, Logan and your half-brother," she said as Trina paused about to head out of the room.

"Really? I thought he wanted nothing to do with us?" she asked.

"He doesn't but he's a good guy, he wants to help," she said as Trina headed out of the room saying she was going to get something to eat.

Alone in the room with Logan she took off her shoes and climbed into his hospital bed with him. She laid down beside him and rested her head on his shoulder. As she could feel his heartbeat she briefly drifted off asleep.

She was later awoken by the feeling fingers combing through her hair slowly and realized that Logan was awake. She sat up on her elbow and checked to see how he was doing. He looked really weak and with very little color in his face. Still, she tried to smile so he didn't know how bad it was.

"Hi," he said with the same glimmer in his eyes he's always had when he looks at her, "I'm not sure you are supposed to be in the hospital bed with me."

"Since when have I followed the rules?" she grinned and kissed him.

"That's why I love you, you're so badass," he said weaving his fingers with her fingers.

"Call me Roni Badass," she giggled and snuggled back up to him.

Just then there was a knock on the door and Veronica jumped out of bed with a sheepish look on her face to see it was Dr. Garth.

"Do you have a match?" she asked not giving him a chance to speak.

"In fact we do, we'll need to take him to do the blood transfusion; this could take a few hours," he said double checking his clipboard.

Veronica ran across the room and hugged him with all the energy she had. She then ran back to Logan and gave him a big kiss.

"I'll see you in a few hours," she said as some hospital workers came in and wheeled him out and down the hall.

When she got back to the waiting room she found the whole room was full of people waiting for Logan, including Charlie Stone. He was on the floor talking to Lucy and she was enraptured by him. At that moment tears started running down her face and she realized that just maybe this nightmare would turn into something good in the end.

She sat down next to her father and rested her head on his as he put his arm around her. She decided to take in all the people around her that loved her and Logan. The room was so full of love and she had this big family, even if they all weren't related, which was all she ever really wanted. She thought her only family would ever be her dad but she's made room for so many more.

By the next day Logan was able to go home but was told he had to rest for a couple weeks. Charlie had headed home to his family after they'd found out Logan was going to be ok and said he hoped he'd get better quickly. Veronica got Logan comfortable in their bedroom with plenty of action movie DVDs and Gatorade. When she brought dinner up to him later that night she got into bed next to him.

"So are you going to tell me who was the match? Was it Trina? She'll never let me forget that she saved my life," he laughed and took a bite of some grilled chicken.

Veronica picked up the remote and pressed pause, "it was Charlie Stone."

He put his fork down and looked at her, "my half-brother?"

"Yeah, we weren't finding a match and I got desperate, luckily he has a good heart…just like you," she said touching his chest with her palm.

"Wow, anything else?" he asked.

"No, I was kind of wrapped up in everything. I was thinking of sending him a thank you," she said taking some potato wedges from his plate.

"Like a fruit basket? A teddy bear? A singing telegram?" he said picking up his fork again and started eating the chicken again.

"I hadn't thought that far ahead yet, is there anything else I can do for you dearest?" she asked with a big smile.

"You can stop being so cutesy and sweet, where is the girl with all the spunk who breaks my balls from time to time?" he asked with a smirk.

"Oh yeah? Well no porn mister, we don't want you getting worked up and having to have your stitches done over again," she said curling up next to him.

"Will you strip for me?" he asked not looking at her and just looking at the tv.

"First of all you can't handle it and second, I don't have any Def Leppard on me at the moment," she said taking the remote and putting on Jon Stewart. She curled up even closer to him as he finished his dinner. Right now her stepdaughter was sleeping soundly down the hall, her sister-in-law was in the guest room and Logan, the boy who'd one way or another always been by her side was right here…by her side.


End file.
